


Second time around

by MotherMckinney21



Category: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Genre: A new factory tour, Disasters, Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, Poor Charlie has a rough time of it, Singing, Songs, charlie is the host, im crap at tags, spoiled brats, with new kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 79,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27939455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MotherMckinney21/pseuds/MotherMckinney21
Summary: After years of waiting for Willy Wonka to return after his sudden disappearance, Charlie decides to hold is own tour of the Chocolate factory with five brand new ticket winners. But will the tour go just as planned, will it end up bringing back memories into the out and open? More importantly are the golden ticket winners more than meets the eye? (Set after the 2005 movie)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on FF.net back in 2016 and completed in 2017.

It was a warm November evening for those who worked in the chocolate factory that Charlie had taken control of.

Within the distance Charlie stood a few meters away from the packing area, silently watching as the machine placed wrappers on a group of ten Wonka bars per second.

Stepping outside towards the front of the chocolate factory, the gentle breeze could be felt drifting across his shoulders. Which sent small shivers down his back as he walked back into the factory, while gently running his fingers along the wall.

Looking up the beautiful vision of the sunset displayed from one of many glass windows, Charlie sighed as he took a moment to appreciate the view before making his way to his office where an Oompa Loompa was waiting for him.

The Oompa Loompa greeted Charlie with a nod before sitting down on a chair that was placed in front of the desk.

As Charlie made himself sit opposite the Oompa Loompa, he let out a tired sigh before looking at the Oompa Loompa who took out a notepad and pen which he placed onto the palm of his hand.

The Oompa Loompa only had to give Charlie a stern look to get him to open up about his problems.

Rubbing his eyes Charlie took a deep breath before making an attempt to explain to the Oompa Loompa.

"Ok look I..." Charlie hesitated before adding, "I'm going, to be honest with you, during these past few years I haven't been enjoying being here. The joyful vibes that used to buzz around me every day just aren't there anymore, the same could be said for my creativity."

Charlie took a minute to think of his next sentence while the Oompa Loompa sat patiently in his seat, waiting for him to explain further.

"I guess I'm just feeling the impact of loneliness finally hit me, I mean all my family has passed on, I don't have any friends outside of the factory, and I just feel that all of this combined has left a huge gap that won't get any smaller no matter how hard I try to deny it."

"Are you sure that's all that's contributing to this gap?" The Oompa Loompa carefully asked, trying to avoid upsetting Charlie .

Charlie cleared his throat before answering the question with, "I never thought the glory of being the Heir to this chocolate factory would wear off as time went by, but I just can't put a finger on why it's happened so fast, so soon."

"Does a certain chocolatier come to mind?" The Oompa Loompa asked, his brown eyes looking straight into Charlie's somewhat watery blue ones.

The second the Oompa Loompa finished his question, Charlie broke the eye contact and stared at the floor for a couple of minutes. During that time he instantly remembered how fascinated his was by Mr Wonka when he had been lucky enough to have the pleasure of being invited to see as well as win the entire chocolate factory.

That memory to this very day was still fresh in Charlie's mind as if it had only happened yesterday.

However, the joyful memory soon came to an end as a not so pleasant one began to brew inside his mind.

And at that moment all he could see was the painful memory of having woken up to find that Mr. Wonka had well and truly vanished.

Without any sort of warning or hints, nor an explanation. He had just got up and left, leaving Charlie to pick up the pieces and carry on as if nothing had happened.

Which is what he had been doing.

But after so many years of believing that Mr. Wonka would return, he had gradually lost hope of ever seeing the man that gave him the inspiration, imagination, and the joy of working in the chocolate factory.

At that moment Charlie jerked his arm as he pulled on of the drawers that contained the golden ticket he had found all the way back in 2005.

Charlie let a finger softly slide against the edges of the last golden ticket which he had been lucky enough to find. After having spent two minutes remembering the first thing Mr Wonka had said to him, the Oompa Loompa snapped his fingers to get Charlie to regain his focus.

"The golden ticket" Charlie blurted out, instantly confusing the Oompa Loompa sat opposite him.

"What about it?" The Oompa Loompa asked, still puzzled as to what Charlie was going on about.

Without giving a word of explanation Charlie rushed off towards the printing room, the Oompa Loompa followed him into the room to find 5 golden tickets being single-handedly printed by one machine, before neatly placing each ticket on top of each other in a pile onto the work top. A grin spread across Charlie's face as he eagerly looked at the 5 tickets as if he was imagining the outcome of his idea.

Before the Oompa Loompa could get a word out in edgeways Charlie beat him to it.

"I'm going to hold my very own tour of the chocolate factory, after all, there hasn't been a tour in 45 years. People all over the world will be intrigued to see the factory once again open its doors to the five lucky children who get the chance to have a once in a lifetime opportunity."

The Oompa Loompa scratched his head before responding with, "are you sure you want to go through with this, I mean it's just all a bit sudden?"

Charlie turned to give the Oompa Loompa a look as he responded with, "look I'm not going to be around forever, someone will eventually have to take over from me when I get too old to do it myself, so why not do it now and get it over with? Then by the time I do pass away the factory will be in safe hands which means it can continue to be the world's best chocolate factory."

Realising that there was no point in arguing with Charlie the Oompa Loompa continued to watch Charlie place the tickets in five random bars which still carried Wonka's name on the front since he couldn't bear to change it since his disappearance. The Oompa Loompa then went round the corner as he stood back to watch the machines wrap the Wonka bars along with a million others ready to be sold all over the world the following day.

As the next day came quicker than any other day had in a very long time for Charlie, he wasted no time in getting up, eagerly racing towards the outside of the chocolate factory. A large group of Oompa Loompas followed after him only to be welcomed to the scene of multiple crates of Wonka bars were being lifted into trucks ready to be dispatched in every country known to existence.

Once the delivery trucks had made their exit Charlie turned to look down to one of the Oompa Loompas as he whispered, "this is going to lead to things."

"It certainly will", replied the Oompa Loompa in a slightly anxious tone of voice.

"But I worry this plan may not deliver the outcome you're expecting" the same Oompa Loompa added, clearly expressing his concern towards Charlie's plan.

"It worked for Mr. Wonka" Charlie replied, not taking his eyes off the Oompa Loompa standing next to him.

"Yes but that was a one-off -"

The Oompa Loompa got cut off halfway through his sentence as Charlie butted in with his own sentence of, "and if Mr. Wonka can find the right heir then so can I."

Despite having given up trying to reason with Charlie the Oompa Loompa had one more thing on his mind.

The Oompa Loompa gave Charlie a concerned look when asking, "But what if they all turn out to be brats?"

"Then we end up with five brats" Charlie responded as he left the Oompa Loompa to absorb the sudden information alone.


	2. First the worst

It had been over a week since Charlie had sent out the five golden tickets hidden in five individual Wonka bars. For the first few days, Charlie and the Oompa Loompas were forced to sit through day after day without any word of a golden ticket being found, despite more or less the whole world going to all sorts of lengths to find one.

Nevertheless, it didn't stop him believing that sooner or later one of the tickets would soon show up in front of his television screen.

Letting out a small sigh Charlie turned on the television, the excitement of the possibility that a golden ticket was to be found already slipping as the television showed no signs of any ticket insight.

However, as Charlie made the decision to channel hop a news report suddenly burst into action, making Charlie jump up from his seat while whistling for a group of at least forty Oompa Loompas to come forward to join him in witnessing the interview.

"Breaking news! The search for the first golden ticket finally proves to be worth the effort as the first golden ticket winner reveals herself to be the ten-year-old Mandy Perkins right here in the United Kingdom, and what better place to start the process than in the great city of London!"

As the scenery from the studio suddenly changed to a three-story luxury mansion where the first golden ticket winner was located, Charlie and the forty Oompa Loompas sat in silence as they listened closely to the interview.

The winner of the first golden ticket Mandy Perkins had long wavy blonde hair that neatly ended down to her shoulders, she wore a silky light pink dress with a rather big matching pink hair bow that was placed on top of her blonde hair. To accompany her dress she wore the same shade of pink tights with smart black shoes. Smiling sweetly towards the camera her teeth were a pearly shade of white that were perfectly in line, to add to her appearance she had deep blue eyes that anyone could easily get lost in.

Standing beside Mandy was her mother who was a lot taller than her daughter, unlike Mandy her mother had very short flat blonde hair that didn't even cover her ears which revealed some unwanted grey hairs. She was dressed in a black sheath dress with a silver badge, spelling out her name Judy Perkins in big letters along with a white feather boa carefully placed around her neck. She too had pure white teeth and blue eyes, the only difference was her eye color was slightly faded. To top off her outfit she wore long silver earrings that looked quite expensive.

With the numerous flashes of cameras focused on Mandy and her mother, one reporter said, "now Mandy please tell us about yourself!"

The adorable smile that was previously used to charm the reporters transformed into one of greed as she snatched the microphone and said "I'm Mandy Perkins, well actually my full name is Mandy, Melissa, Annabell, Esme Perkins and as you can see I have the first golden ticket and it's mine, all mine!" When finishing her sentence she waved the ticket in front of the camera to prove her point.

"So how does it feel to be the official first golden ticket winner?" A female reporter asked.

"I don't need to say how it feels as I always come first no matter what!" Mandy declared, looking at her mother with confidence.

In a proud manner, Mandy's mother added with a satisfied smile, "oh yes my Mandy's a girl who knows what she wants and when she wants it."

Quite surprised by their responses the reporter who introduced the Perkins decided to quickly change the subject and ask, "now the big question is how did you find the golden ticket?"

This time it was the mother who answered the reporter.

"Well as soon as Mandy informed me of her desire to have a golden ticket, I grabbed the opportunity by the neck and got all the Wonka bars I could get my hands on. You see I run a jewelry business which goes by the name of Perkins Boutique that only sells the highest quality of jewelry products, let's just say this earns us rather a huge amount of money per day seeing as I have hundreds of stores all over the country."

Charlie mentally winced at how similar the Perkins were to the Salts.

"So with all this money I was able to purchase up to nearly a million pounds worth of Wonka bars which I sat down and individually unwrapped each and every single one myself."

"And you still failed to get me what I wanted!" Mandy rudely interrupted, giving her mother a sharp glare.

Judy awkwardly coughed at her daughter's sudden interruption, nevertheless, she carried on explaining to the reporters.

"I searched and searched for a golden ticket for my darling daughter Mandy for three days in a row and within each day she became increasingly unhappy."

"You should have worked nights!" Mandy angrily interrupted again, showing no respect for the fact that her mother was trying to say something.

"Veruca salt all over" an Oompa Loompa commented, sending unpleasant shivers down Charlie's spine

Before Judy could attempt to explain any further Mandy decided to take the situation into her own hands.

"In the end, one of our many connections as my mother puts it managed to deliver a golden ticket to me, they were reluctant to give it to me at first but that soon got sorted out."

"Money speaks in many ways" Judy added before pulling out a heavy pile of cash to prove her point.

"Only because you gave it the voice in the first place, " said a man in the background who was sat on one of many armchairs reading a newspaper which he was currently looking up from.

Along with Judy and Mandy, the man also had blonde hair, blue eyes but unlike the two girls, he didn't want to make a scene in front of the reporters.

"I assume he's the dad, " Charlie said in reaction to his first and probably the last sentence during the interview.

"With quite a different take on parenting, I think" an Oompa Loompa added.

"Shut up Bernard!" Judy hissed as Bernard went back to reading his newspaper.

Trying to look good in front of the camera Judy kindly smiled before saying in a slightly intimidating manner, "no one says no to my daughter."

"And quite right too!" Mandy exclaimed in response.

" Alright! Just one more question Mandy, are you looking forward to seeing who else will be fortunate enough to join you on this remarkable opportunity?"

Mandy scoffed before practically shouting out, "No and you know why? Because I want the other four golden tickets as I want to be the only one who gets to go the Mr Buckets Chocolate factory!"

Mandy gave her mother a cold glare as if she was expecting her to rush off to see to her demands just as a slave would.

Once the interview had finished neither Charlie nor the Oompa Loompas said a word.

It had taken just over two minutes for the silence to be broken by one of the Oompa Loompas stood beside him.

"So I assume I'm right in thinking that we should work on an elimination song for this Mandy Perkins?"

"No!" Charlie exclaimed rather quickly before taking a deep breath and calmly adding, "no I want this tour to be a fair one, she may be horribly dislikable but that doesn't mean she deserves to be a victim of a life-changing incident."

The Oompa Loompa folded his arms and bowed to show his understanding of Charlie's wishes.

"However what I am going to do is take a few deep breaths to analyze what has just happened within the last ten minutes."

And with that Charlie then walked out of the room followed by a few Oompa Loompas who wished to do the same thing.

The remaining Oompa Loompas just stared at the television set, desperately trying to shake the worrying experience out of their minds and instead picture the next golden ticket winner.


	3. Second the best?

The very next day the news about Mandy Perkins had been viewed by millions of people all over the world, triggering, even more chaos amongst the thousands of people who were now even more desperate for a golden ticket than ever before.

Charlie took a deep breath as he prepared himself for the possibility that another one of his golden tickets would be shown on the television for all to see.

The moment he turned on the television the same reporter from yesterday was seen standing inside of a luxury villa with at least sixty photos of the second golden ticket winner plastered on every wall there was. The luxury mansion itself was similar to the one Mandy lived in however it was slightly smaller in size but not by much.

Having only seen the location of the second ticket winner, a tight squeezing sensation had already begun to make an impact in Charlie's stomach.

"So it appears that Miss Perkins dream was short-lived after the second golden ticket was discovered in Paris the capital city of France by the male child model Fernando Cruz!

A huge crowd of photographers were taking photos of Fernando from all angles, some speaking in French while others in English.

"Fernando spell your name for us" one of the English reporters requested.

"F- e- r- n- a -n-d - o, Fernando Cruz!" Fernando happily responded in a strong French accent as he enjoyed being the center of attention.

Fernando Cruz was of average height who had slightly tanned skin, he had his brown hair lightly gelled which had been neatly combed to the side of his head, giving off a slightly wavy effect. He had chocolate brown eyes which shimmered every time a flash of a camera caught him. For his interview, he wore a smart buttoned dark blue shirt with a formal black bow tie along with smart black trousers that fitted nicely with his thin figure, on his feet were shiny black shoes that had been specially made for him.

With him were the proud parents who introduced themselves as Christina and Bryant Cruz.

Fernando's mother wore a long sleeved formal red top with a black sheath skirt and matching black high heel shoes. Her brunette hair was also neatly brushed with the ends of it having been curled to give off a bouncy effect. She too had chocolate brown eyes and tanned skin, to finish off the outfit she wore at least three long silver necklaces that made clunking noise every time she moved.

Fernando's father Bryant was dressed in a smart grey shirt accompanied by a black bow tie that matched the one Fernando was wearing. He also shared the same tanned skin and brown eyes as his son and wife, the only difference was his brown hair was short and curly but still neatly presented.

"So Fernando I believe there are two things that are worth the celebration today, am I right?" A female reporter asked, keen to get an answer from him.

"Yes, it is my son's eleventh birthday today" Fernando's father answered in a proud manner, letting out a content smile as he told the world.

"Fernando please tell us about yourself!" Another reporter requested which they were more than happy to provide an answer to.

However, it wasn't Fernando who answered the question.

"Well as you can tell by the many photos we have all over every wall in the entire house, my son is a child model and has been since the age of two" Bryant informed the reporters, his projected voice echoing across the house.

"This very photo of him was when he won the awards for the best-looking child and he wasn't even a year old" Christina added in delight, placing a hand on Fernando's shoulder for good measure while showing the reporters the photo of him.

"Although he didn't get officially recognized until the age of two" Bryant stated.

"Since then he has won multiple awards, at least five each year and maybe more, " Bryant said in the same boastful voice along with letting out a haughty smile.

As the two parents talked to the reporters the flashing of the cameras became more regularly intense.

"Smile Fernando!" Bryant hissed just before adding in a more cheery tone of voice, "show off that award-winning smile to the entire world!"

Fernando did as he was told, attracting more attention from the cameras and reporters.

"Please Fernando, tell us how you discovered the golden ticket?" A few reporters asked as they eagerly waited for an explanation.

Again his father spoke for him.

"Wel, actually we didn't think he would get his hands on a golden ticket because we don't let Fernando eat chocolate as it interferes with his clear complexion, which is one of the vital keys to looking good. However his grandmother despite the numerous amount of times we have told her not to, sent him a Wonka bar to celebrate this day which so happened to contain the second golden ticket."

"How did you feel about this?" the same reporter asked, trying to get something out of Fernando who was stood in front of his parents smiling. On the other hand, neither the reporter nor Charlie could help but think it was kind of forced.

"Well if an opportunity comes knocking at your door, then take it as they say. After all, you can never get enough publicity." Bryant replied.

"Who's the interview on, Fernando or Bryant?" An Oompa Loompa sarcastically asked.

"The more the better, for us, that is" Christina added with a smug smile tugging at her lips.

"Fernando, what are your thoughts in regards to looking good?" A female reporter asked, purposely pointing the microphone at him so his parents wouldn't butt in.

"Let's face it you have to be thin and flawless, there's nothing less attractive than an overweight spotty slob who makes absolutely no effort into their appearance whatsoever."

Charlie winced at Fernando's harsh words.

"What's worse is when someone knows they're ugly and says they're actually happy with how they look, therein so much denial it's tragic."

Fernando then looked up to his parents who gave him a nod of approval.

"Quite so" Christina responded using the same haughty smile from earlier.

"I couldn't have said it better myself" Bryant stated, giving his son a little smile as if to say well done.

As the interview came to an end, the Oompa Loompas turned their heads towards Charlie as they heard him take a few deep breaths.

"There are still three golden tickets left, one of them has to be decent" Charlie repeated into thin air as if to try and find self-comfort in his own words. Needless to say, it wasn't working.

"I'm just going to take a few minutes out into the fresh air, please excuse me" was Charlie's way of escaping the reality of what he had just witnessed.

A few from the group of forty Oompa Loompas turned to look at Charlie as he left the room in silence.

After a few minutes of the continued awkward silence, one of the Oompa Loompas turned to face another who was sat next to him as if to silently say,

I think this may become a rather unbreakable habit.


	4. Third the one with a lot on the chest

It had been three days since Fernando Cruz the finder of the second golden ticket had made the headlines of every newspaper known to existence. However, since then there had been no news over the third golden ticket.

"Should we be worried or relieved?" asked one of the Oompa Loompas, looking up at Charlie as he did so.

Charlie let out a deep sigh, not answering the Oompa Loompas question.

It wasn't until later that afternoon when the usual intro followed by the same reporter once again showing his face on the television.

"Good afternoon! I am stood outside the home of the third lucky golden ticket winner who's located in Illinois, Chicago. He goes by the name of Steven Fox, over to you Jess!"

Soon enough the scenery changed over to the inside of the house the ticket winner lived in. Unlike the previous winners, Steven lived in a cape cod house which was filled with computer technology, huge tv sets, various game consoles, and large speakers plugged into all the TV sets.

The sounds of blaring music and loud crashes could be heard blasting from the largest television set. Two adults who Charlie and the Oompa Loompas assumed were the parents were sat on a brown leather sofa, violently smacking the buttons of the controllers while yelling whenever something didn't go their way.

The mother of the third ticket winner had wild deep purple hair which was shaved one side, leaving the other side invaded by the curls that almost covered her eyes. She had dark green eyes along with a nose, lip, and multiple eyebrow piercings. She wore a purple T-shirt with a picture of a gray game controller that said Evolution gamer!

The father who was still shouting directly towards the TV screen had dark red dreadlocks that went all the way down to the bottom of his back. He also had a wonky mustache along with a short beard that was also dyed red. He wore the same T-shirt that his wife had but in the color red.

It was also revealed that Steven had an older brother who frantically waved to all the cameras in a childish manner. The older brother who happily told the reporters that his name was Joseph Fox tried to pull Steven into a hug only to find himself being pushed away seconds later. Joseph had jet black hair which was tied up in a long ponytail, he also had green eyes and a couple of tattoos on each arm that had something to do with gaming.

Within a short distance from his brother, Steven Fox was stood in front of the many reporters who were all desperate to get a photo of him, however, he didn't share the reporter's enthusiasm as he casually stood with his arm folded looking as if he wanted all the fuss to end.

Steven Fox had spiky dark blue hair that was in the style of a Mohican. For his interview, he wore a black hoody with baggy navy ripped jeans, to go with his outfit he wore a pair of black and blue Nike trainers. He also shared the same emerald green eyes as his parents and brother. Unlike his parents and brother, he didn't seem to be wearing anything to do with gaming, surprising Charlie and the Oompa Loompas.

"Thank you, Dylan! In front of me, I have the third golden ticket winner Steven Fox, so Steven do you care to tell us about yourself?" The reporter called Jess asked.

Steven huffed at the reporter's request.

"Ok, I don't need to tell you my name as if you were listening in the first place you would know" Steven began in a moody tone of voice.

"I guess I should say I'm 12 years old just to add that extra spark to the excitement" Steven sarcastically added as he rolled his eyes out of boredom.

"Steven, please tell us how you found the golden ticket?" Another reporter asked as he pointed the camera towards the blue-haired boy.

"Ok let's get one thing crystal clear, my brother was the one who got all hyped up over some golden ticket, and before you ask yes he used his technology to track it down" Steven huffed.

"No! Just why!" Charlie exclaimed.

"At least he was honest about it" an Oompa Loompa stated in response.

"But since he's not classed as a child, old muggins here has to do the dirty work" Steven continued, pointing to himself when finishing off his sentence.

Within hearing distance, Joseph leaned into Stevens' ear and whispered, "bro did you have to tell them that?"

Steven grunted. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't realize that exposing supposedly top-secret tricks was breaking part of the gaming laws" he hissed in mock guilt.

"How did you feel when you got the ticket?" another reporter asked, keen to get an answer despite Stevens's tendency to be sarcastic.

Steven groaned before answering with a sour response of, "look I'm going to be bluntly honest here, I didn't want the golden ticket and I don't see what the big deal is over a ticket that doesn't even resemble real gold."

"Tha- what the-!" Charlie exclaimed while clenching his fist to keep his rage under control.

A little smirk made its way across Stevens' lips as if he had more to say, which indeed he did.

"Though mind you I was thinking of selling it on ebay to see how much it would go for, I mean honestly it's hilariously ridiculous upon how much money some people are prepared to pay for something that has as little value as my brother's brain."

Joseph looked hurt at Stevens's recent comment, all Steven could do in response was scornfully chuckle at how offended he became.

However, he wasn't the only one annoyed by Stevens comments.

Charlie had also been quite stunned as to how one boy could create such an aggressive amount of tension inside of him in a matter of minutes.

Charlie then let out a deep sigh as he forced himself to sit through the rest of the interview.

Shocked at what Steven had so openly revealed the reporter stammered when asking, "do you share your family's interest in gaming?"

Stevens' eye widened at the reporter's question before glaring at her as he practically shouted out, "are you being serious? Gaming is for those with no grip on reality!"

Stevan turned round to watch his parents who were still playing the same game since the interview had started. Steven sighed as he said, "take my pathetic parents and my buffoon of a brother, for example, their whole lives revolve around gaming, particularly around the question of what game they should play next and who will win it."

Steven laughed humorlessly as he added in the same snotty tone of voice, "meanwhile those of us whose logic still remains intact spend our entire lifetime trying to restore the common sense to what is left of what we are forced to sadly call humanity."

Steven took one last glance at his parents and the older brother who had since walked away from his younger brother's insults remained glued to the sofa as they continued to play what had come to an intense part of their game.

Steven groaned as he finished off his rant with a grumbled sentence of, "and that is a prime example of how we are evolving backward."

All of a sudden the sounds of yelling could be heard from where Stevens's parents had been playing their game, it turned out to be his mother doing her version of a victory dance while shouting "in your face loser!"

"I demand a rematch!" Stevens's dad yelled as he slammed his controller into his hand like a sulky toddler.

To put a stop to the unnecessary shouting Steven projected his final words consisting of, "I better get my a hundred dollars after this!" that caught his parents attention

With the reporters lost for words the interview soon ended, much to the Oompa Loompas and Charlie's relief.

"He can not be your heir under any circumstances" an Oompa Loompa stated as calmly as he could manage for Charlie's sake.

"Don't worry I wouldn't even consider him for the part" Charlie responded before adding, "In fact, I'm debating whether to let him even enter the factory!"

"You have to Charlie, whether he or you like it or not he has the ticket which says he's invited to the tour of the factory" the Oompa Loompa reminded him, earning a sigh from Charlie.

"Your right, I'm sorry it's just I really didn't think that the winners would be this bad. I mean I said that if we ended up with five brats then we would be hosting a tour for five brats, but I didn't think it would have ever come to this…"

Charlie trailed off as he found himself lost for words.

One of the forty Oompa Loompas in the room placed a comforting hand on Charlie's shoulder as if to silently tell him they understood.


	5. Fourth to good fortune

The following days had almost been a blessing to Charlie as flashbacks of Stevens's interview continued to haunt his mind.

"What if they all turn out to be brats?" Charlie whispered to himself, for the fourth day in a row according to the Oompa Loompas.

Deciding to give Charlie some space, a few Oompa Loompas went over to the room next door.

An awkward silence filled the atmosphere for a couple of minutes until one of the Oompa Loompa became brave enough to break it.

"So, do you think Charlie is correct to question whether the children are worth the tour?" an Oompa Loompa sternly questioned.

"Maybe we should think about making some elimination songs, you know just in case." Another Oompa Loompa added, avoiding the previous question.

"But Charlie specifically said not to-"

Before they could continue their discussion they were interrupted by the sudden announcement that the fourth ticket had been found.

"Come quickly!" said an Oompa Loompa who had stayed in the room with Charlie since that very morning

"Good afternoon viewers!" The reporter began just as the Oompa Loompas had all sat down.

"Breaking news as the fourth golden ticket has just been found in the small village in Ferguslie Park in Scotland, by the eleven-year-old Eleanor Mai!"

As the scenery from the studio changed to the inside of a small cottage, the Oompa Loompas couldn't help but notice the shock on Charlie's face during the following few seconds.

The house itself was quite small for the number of people who lived there. Unlike the houses of the three previous winners, there was no expensive furniture, only a couple of shelves and a rusty set of a table and chairs filling the main room of the house. The walls were in a no better state along with the carpets of the floor peeling off and traces of mold could be detected on the ceiling and the corners of the walls.

Towards the corner of the room, an armchair with an elderly man currently leaned towards his right was fast asleep, his snoring just about quiet enough for the reporters to hear the voice of the fourth ticket winner. To add to the atmosphere two cats, one tabby and the other a mixture of black and white were seen playfully running across the floor as if they too were excited about Eleanor's victory.

The fourth ticket winner Eleanor Mai had short, puffy, curly ginger hair that barely reached down to her ears. She wore light green glasses which complemented her bright blue eyes along with her pale complexion and a genuinely cute smile. For her interview she wore a white polo neck jumper with a yellow sweater vest, to match she had a yellow hair clip in a shape of a button neatly placed on her hair.

The taller woman next to her was almost identical to Eleanor accept her ginger hair ended precisely at the back of her neck. She too wore light green glasses and had a pale complexion with blue eyes, her outfit consisted of a darker green floral dress with the same hair clip but in a pale green color.

During the time Charlie spent looking at the fourth ticket winner, the Oompa Loompa noticed that a small smile was tugging at the chocolatiers lips as if he already knew what the winner would be like.

"Eleanor please, tell us about yourself!" a reporter requested, instantly snapping Charlie out of his thoughts.

Eleanor smiled as she spoke.

"Hello everybody my name's Eleanor Mai and this is my auntie Fiona," Eleanor said while directing a grin towards Fiona. "Oh and this is my uncle Albert", Eleanor introduced, pointing towards the bald man in the armchair who only mumbled in response as he regained his ability to fall back to sleep.

"I'm eleven years old and my passion is chemistry!" Eleanor added, but not in a boastful way.

"Oooh that sounds terrific, what started this interesting passion?" a female reporter asked. Eleanor was more than happy to give an answer.

"Well I first came across chemistry when I was very young, but I didn't really get passionate about it until I learned how fascinating it truly is!"

A few Oompa Loompas joined Charlie in smiling at Eleanor.

"When I grow up I would love to have my very own chemistry set, so I could learn how to be a professional chemist to help those in need."

"Well, that's marvelous Miss Mai, simply marvelous!" A reporter exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Thank you so much, after all, I believe that everyone should have the chance to follow their dreams."

During that moment a camerawoman in the background could be heard whispering, "aw, she's such a sweet girl."

"Indeed she is" Charlie commented, his soft tone of voice showing how grateful he is for the kindness the three previous winners lacked.

"So, enlighten us with how you managed to find the golden ticket!" A reporter asked

Eleanor cleared her throat before speaking.

"Actually I was pleasantly surprised upon finding the ticket as our family doesn't have much money" was all Eleanor could say as she struggled to form her next sentence.

At this point, Fiona took over.

"We live in one of Scotland's poorer areas, therefore the money is a sensitive issue for many families that live here. But it's not all doom and gloom, for example, we all look out for each other as in a way we are just one big family."

"We witness and feel what good deeds can do for someone, not just within the day you help them but also for their entire future," Eleanor stated, having regained her ability to speak.

Eleanor was interrupted by a soft meow as she noticed the two cats from earlier perched near her feet, she then bent down to pick up the tabby one while Fiona picked up the black and white one.

"For example, we rescued Pablo and Patch from a drain across the road when they were kittens, we couldn't bare to leave them there so we took them in and nursed them back to health," Eleanor explained as the two cats stared at the camera with a glimpse of interest.

Eleanor blushed slightly when realizing she had been rambling on about something completely irrelevant to the topic of the ticket.

"Sorry about going slightly off-topic" Eleanor apologized before letting her aunt take over the conversation.

"In regards to the golden ticket, today started out like any other normal day which consisted of beginning our Wednesday morning with our weekly food shop, but on our way back we saw this group of parents and their children who were more or less Eleanor's age, slightly younger perhaps."

Charlie gave the Mai family a sympathetic look as Fiona continued to talk.

Anyway, they all came out of the shop with a Wonka bar each, which instantly put me in an awkward position as I would have done anything to be able to get Eleanor, who has been so good to me during the past few years a little treat for herself. Needless to say that, unfortunately, my purse was empty from our weekly food shop."

Eleanor looked up at her aunt with a small smile, looking as if she wanted to say, You shouldn't have to feel guilty.

"Then all of a sudden the mother of one of the children recognized Eleanor and places a one pound coin in her hand while telling her to get herself something nice. I couldn't have thanked her enough for her kindness."

"Please, may I tell the reporters the rest?" Eleanor asks in a polite manner, impressing the reporters who until now had been forced into the company of brats.

"Such good manners" Charlie whispered as if he was about to cry.

Fiona nodded in response.

"So I walk into the shop and choose a Wonka bar as they are my favorite chocolate bars, the shopkeeper along with two other customers in the shop convince me to open it. So I do and to my shock, I find the golden ticket!"

"I shall never forget that joyful moment when Eleanor squealed with glee as she held it up for all to see," Fiona commented, with a hint of moisture gathering inside her eyes.

"Soon enough the news of Eleanor's ticket spread like wildfire around the whole town, and the greatest thing was that everyone joined her in celebrating this magnificent event rather than try to grab it for themselves," Fiona added before hugging Eleanor who seemed more than happy to return it.

Charlie soon found himself tearing up once again as a single teardrop managed to sneak out from under his eye.

She's perfect!" Charlie suddenly exclaimed as soon as the interview had come to an end.

As part of his rush of enjoyment, Charlie then bounced up from his seat and started doing a victory dance, startling the Oompa Loompas in the process.

"She will definitely be my heir!" Charlie added with the same enthusiastic tone of voice, the kind of voice the Oompa Loompa had wanted to hear for days.

"I knew this day would come!" Charlie whispered as if it was something top secret.

An Oompa Loompa coughed awkwardly when saying, "I don't take any pleasure in breaking this to you but there's still one ticket left."

This Instantly put a stop to Charlie's celebrating mood.

"You cannot make any snap decisions until all five of the winners have been revealed." The same Oompa Loompa added.

Charlie slumped back into his chair, mumbling something none of the Oompa Loompas could make sense of. But what the Oompa Loompas did hear was a muffled sentence of the fifth ticket winner possibly being the worst of the lot.

"Then the choice you make shall be an easy one" the Oompa Loompa simply stated in response.

Charlie huffed before the entire room got dragged into a long painful session of silence.

For all they could do for now was wait.


	6. Last but not least

"There is only one final golden ticket left to be found in the entire world, and needless to say the hunt for the last golden ticket is proving to be the toughest challenge yet, as many people all over the world become desperate to get their hands on the last golden ticket!"

The Oompa Loompa who was currently listening to the reporter at the news studio yawned as another uneventful day nearly came to a close. It had been a week since the discovery of the fourth ticket winner, since then no traces of the fifth golden ticket had been seen nor heard of.

However, early the following morning the same group of Oompa Loompas were greeted to the sounds of the television announcing the winner of the fifth and final golden ticket.

"What a glorious morning it is for America but this time the lucky winner is located in Queens, New York!"

"Just get on with it, please, " Charlie said towards the television, a glimpse of impatience in his tone of voice.

"Behind me, I have the lucky winner of golden ticket number five, so now without further ado, I have the pleasure of introducing the 11-year-old winner, Claudia Smith!"

The camera then pointed towards the final ticket winner, revealing her in a swiftly manner.

Claudia had jet black hair which she had in a bun with a fringe that covered her forehead. She had dark brown eyes and an average figure for her height. She wore a plain dark green top with a black leather jacket, black jeans and black leather boots to match. To go with her outfit she wore a black velvet choker necklace that had a silver skull attached to the middle, swinging against her neck whenever she moved.

As the reporter made way for Claudia to make her entrance, Charlie noticed that unlike any of the other winners she was walking into the interview alone.

It didn't take long for a few of the reporters to pick up on this.

"Claudia, aren't your parents joining you in celebrating your victory on national television?"

"I only have my mother, my father left us when I was little. As for my mother's current absence, I did try to persuade her to join me, but she said she didn't feel right in interfering with my glory." Claudia responded kindly.

Charlie frowned at her answer.

" So Claudia, please tell us about yourself" a female reporter requested.

"Okay then" Claudia began as she projected her voice for all to hear.

" So all there really is to know about me is that I often stay at home to look after my mother as she often gets lonely. Because I spend so much time with her we have become very close, almost inseparable, which is why I think family's more important than anything else I could ever think of." Claudia said with a modest smile.

Charlies frown from earlier turned into a sympathetic smile when hearing about how she cared for her mother.

Charlie was soon snapped out of his thoughts when one reporter asked, "how do you feel about being the world's final ticket winner?"

Claudia cleared her throat before answering in a softer tone of voice.

"It's an honor if I do say so myself, I had never pictured myself to be the one standing in front of all these cameras and reporters with the fifth and final golden ticket in the entire world in my own hands, one for the memory box I think."

A couple of reporters giggled before focusing back on Claudia who had more questions coming her way.

"Tell us how you found your golden ticket!" Several reporters exclaimed all at once, Claudia then had no choice but to hold up a hand to silence them so she could explain.

"Well just before it got dark last night I decided to take a walk to the shop, luckily I had gone there just in time as if it had been five minutes later it would have been shut. Anyway, I bought two Wonka bars, one for me and the other for my mom as she doesn't sleep much these days, which is why we buy chocolate for late at night so I'm able to stay awake with her."

Charlie hadn't said a word since Claudia had first mentioned how she looked after her mom, however, the Oompa Loompas knew the longer she went on about her mother the more Charlie got to like her.

"So at around eleven o'clock at night we both sit downstairs and unwrap our Wonka bars, mom goes first which needless to say fails to contain a ticket so I then feel bad for her which leads me to let her unwrap my Wonka bar."

Charlie smiled at how understanding she was towards her mother who was obviously going through a tough time in life.

"So she unwraps it and when her eyes widen after opening it I at first think she's found something utterly revolting inside, but then she turns the Wonka bar to face me which reveals a glimpse of the corner of the final golden ticket!"

Claudia wipes what looks like forming tear drops from her eyes before continuing.

"After our discovery, my mother spent the next five minutes squealing like a child who gets what they want for their birthday, it was just the shock of having been lucky enough to get an opportunity to see the amazing chocolate factory for ourselves as we don't generally have the best of luck."

A few reporters felt sympathy for Claudia's situation.

"In fact, this is the Wonka bar which contained the golden ticket" Claudia then held up the Wonka bar as she proudly added, "this very Wonka bar is a Whipple- scrumptious fudge mallow delight bar, which I believe is Mr. Buckets favorite type of Wonka bar."

Charlie smiled as Claudia's general interest in him and the factory sent a warm feeling inside his chest.

"How do you compare yourself to the other ticket winners?" A reporter asked suddenly, which caught Claudia and Charlie by surprise.

Despite her slight shock, Claudia was quick to come up with an answer.

" Okay so I may not be showered with riches, or be a magnificent model , or wise with words, or even hold a powerful passion , but having the knowledge that I get to join these incredibly lucky four individuals for the breathtaking experience of seeing Mr. Buckets chocolate factory is enough to make my heart content along with my mother's happiness of course."

Claudia let out a wide smile as most of the reporters clapped for her.

"So, do you think you have a chance of winning?" A reporter asked, keen to get an answer from her.

"Well I have the same chance as the others, and even if I don't win I shall hold my head up high and take it like a mature person would, besides winning isn't everything as I enjoy the taking part more than the prize itself," Claudia responded, earning herself a few compliments from some of the reporters.

Once the interview had officially come to an end Charlie was speechless for the next couple of minutes, that was until an Oompa Loompa decided it was time to break the silence.

"So, Charlie what do you think of her?" An Oompa Loompa asked, giving Charlie a questioning look.

"She's….Perfect! I mean she's kind, caring, considerate, polite and more importantly she's not a brat!" Charlie exclaimed in response, excitement shining through his blue eyes.

"Didn't Eleanor also share the same qualities? " another Oompa Loompa said, instantly reminding Charlie how she had also found herself in the position to be his new heir.

For a whole minute, the room was once again filled with the same painful silence as it had been after Stevens interview.

All of a sudden Charlie let out a rather loud groan as he banged his head on his desk in pure frustration. It had taken a while longer before the Oompa Loompas could get anything out of the chocolatier.

"What am I going to do now?" Charlie finally asked before quickly adding, "I thought there would only be one good kid to make the decision easy, now I have two lovely girls who both show the qualities needed to make a fantastic heir."

"If I were you, Charlie, I would wait until the end of the tour to decide who should be your heir, especially since either one of them could just be acting this way just to please you. You cannot take that risk just because their personalities appeal to you in front of a television screen." An Oompa Loompa calmly stated, giving Charlie a stern look as he spoke.

Charlie sighed as he knew the Oompa Loompa was right in what he had to say.

"You're quite right, " Charlie said as a way of showing his agreement to the Oompa Loompas statement.

"Now you must prepare yourself for the tour Charlie as it officially begins in less than a week's time." The Oompa Loompa stated, causing Charlie to turn to his calendar to check the date.

"To be precise I have three days to prepare myself for the event that changed Mr. Wonka's life which will now change mine in a matter of days, so I better go and get on with practicing what I'm going to say for each and every room I allow our guests to see."

The group of Oompa Loompas folded their arms and bowed before leaving the room to let Charlie do what he needed to do.


	7. Meet and greet

February the 1st, the same day the first tour was held over 40 years ago had finally arrived.

The reporters who had interviewed the five ticket winners had made the effort to arrive at the crack of dawn, wasting no time to prepare themselves and the rest of the world for the huge event.

Since the early hours of that very morning, Charlie had spent that time staring out the highest window of the factory, silently waiting for the five ticket winners along with one of their family members to make an appearance.

By this time a few Oompa Loompas had caught sight of Charlie, having not made a signal move from where he was currently standing since waking up.

Tugging at Charlie's trouser leg one of the Oompa Loompas gave him a questioning look, which was all it took for Charlie to spill the beans.

"I'm scared about this tour, what if it doesn't go according to plan? Or what if I stumble across an awkward point during the tour? What if they lose interest halfway through, as let's face it I'm not exactly eccentric or witty like Mr. Wonka was…" Charlie trailed off when realizing he was unable to finish off his sentence.

The Oompa Loompa who had been listening to Charlie's worries let out a soft sigh before responding with, "look did you really think Mr. Wonka didn't feel the same way when he was in your position? Despite Mr. Wonkas difficulties during his tour he managed to find the right one for his factory in the end, am I right?"

"Yes, " Charlie whispered.

"And so will you Charlie Bucket"

Charlie nodded wordlessly in agreement, giving the Oompa Loompa a silent thank you before returning his focus to out the window. But in a calmer state of mind.

Shortly after their little conversation, Charlie was greeted to the sight of his least favorite ticket winner, Steven Fox and his older brother waiting outside the iron gates.

Steven was wearing the same clothes he wore for his interview, while his brother wore a red t-shirt with the Mario logo on the front. To go with his t-shirt he wore dark blue shorts and a Mario coat with his face displayed on the back of it.

"Do you have to keep bouncing like that?" Steven snapped as he looked over towards Joseph, who was happily bouncing with excitement next to him. Steven gave him a look of pure disgust as he continued to do it.

"But I'm excited bro," Joseph said as a cheeky smile escaped from his lips.

Steven rolled his eyes. "That's because you have the mind of a child."

"But Steven, you are a child," Joseph responded in a proud tone of voice while letting out a smirk as if to show he had successfully pulled off a smart comment.

"Yet, I'm still more intelligent than you" Steven retorted, wiping the smirk right off of Joseph's face within seconds.

Not too far behind them were Mandy and Judy Perkins who were both dressed in tiger skin coats with tiger skin cossack hats to match. From what was revealed under her coat, Mandy wore a bright yellow dress with a faux fur collar which poked out from the top of her tiger coat. To go with her outfit she wore grey tights with flat black Mary Janes. Her wavy blonde hair gently flowed under her hat and bounced slightly as she walked.

Underneath her own coat, Judy Perkins was dressed in a white chic dress, along with the white feather boa she had worn for the interview. To top off her outfit she also wore matching white high heel boots. Not a single strand of hair could be seen poking out from under her hat, however, she did have dangly silver earrings which were visible, and like Mandy's hair kept moving whenever she moved.

The Perkins were engaged in a one-way conversation, started by no other than Mandy.

"Right mother, I want to be the first one at the gates and I want to be the first one to go inside the factory gates and the factory itself too!" Mandy demanded while shooting a fierce glare towards her mother.

"Yes, Mandy," Judy replied with a look as if to make sure she got what she wanted.

"And if I don't get what I want when I want it, I shall scream and scream and scream until I'm sick!"

Judy gave her daughter a determined look before returning her focus on arriving at the gates.

However less than a minute later an ear-bleeding shriek filled the atmosphere. It didn't take long for Judy to figure out that it was Mandy shrieking at the sight of the Fox brothers having been already stood there for the past five minutes.

Mandy then shot a stone-cold glare towards her mother before shouting, "this is all your fault!" while viciously pointing a finger at her mother.

"You would think it's the end of the world," Steven muttered as he covered his ears to block out the sounds of Mandy's shrieking.

"You should have been quicker when getting ready this morning!" Mandy spat, passively ignoring her mother's guilty facial expression.

Letting out a remorseful sigh, Judy snapped her head round to scowl at the Fox brothers which Steven easily returned. Judy then decided to turn round to face the gates.

Soon afterward Fernando and Bryant Cruz arrived, along with Eleanor and Fiona Mai following closely behind them.

Fernando and Bryant were both dressed in smart clothes which consisted of a redshirt for Fernando and a white one for Bryant, both with a formal black tie neatly displayed. They both also wore smart black trousers with specially made black shoes, that were polished. To keep up the formal dress code they both wore black suit jackets which had been altered for a perfect fit. Fernando's hair was combed in the same neatly fashion as it had been for his interview, the same went for Bryant's hair too.

"I don't want to see a single crease on that shirt, Fernando!" Bryant said in a stern voice as he gave his son a serious look.

"Yes, father" Fernando obeyed, with a hint of unease in his voice.

Meanwhile, Eleanor and Fiona were now further behind the Cruz family as Fiona struggled walking without nearly falling over, to stop this from happening Eleanor walked beside her while holding her hand in case she tripped over.

For the tour Eleanor wore an orange polo neck jumper along with a pair of dungarees and a pair of old brown trainers. To keep her warm she also wore a worn out pale brown coloured trench coat that had holes in various places. Her auntie was dressed in a creamy coloured floral blouse that consisted of red and orange flowers, with a grey cardigan and a worn out brown duffle coat. Like Eleanor she wore the same old worn out trainers but in the same colour as her cardigan.

As the combination of snow and ice increased on the ground Fiona found it even more difficult to keep her balance. When she and Eleanor had gotten nearer to the gates, Fiona misjudged a step leading to her accidently bumping into Fernando who then crashed into his father.

Bryant whipped his head round to witness the cause of the sudden commotion. He then marched over to his son and started brushing dirt off of his shirt, even though there wasn't even the slightest bit of dirt detectable.

"I… I'm so terribly sorry" Fiona stammered when Bryant turned to give her an angry stare.

"Hmph," Bryant huffed before leading Fernando away from them as if they were peasants. This left Eleanor with an upset facial expression.

"Don't worry sweetheart, we'll just keep our distance from them," Fiona said which eased Eleanor's sadness.

Having mostly forgotten the incident Eleanor and Fiona eventually made their way to the front of the gates, carefully choosing their position to stand next to the Fox brothers.

Now having only five minutes to go before the tour, the four out of the five ticket winners who had arrived were now getting harassed by camera and reporters, who were constantly asking questions and requesting for photos.

While all this was going on Claudia and her mother sneaked past the many groups of reporters and photographers, wishing to avoid all the drama.

Claudia was seen wearing the same black leather jacket from her interview, but this time her shirt was a dark gray color with a picture of a white skull on it. She also wore the same black jeans along with the long black boots and her skull choker necklace. Her jet black hair was tied up in a neat bun, with her fringe covering her forehead.

On the other hand, her mother was covered head to toe in clothing, apart from the occasional glimpse of her sunglasses which could be seen when looking directly at her.

"Who is that?" Claudia heard someone ask, as she turned to look at Eleanor who was pointing a finger towards her.

"That must be the fifth ticket winner" Fiona replied softly as if to be careful not to hurt her feelings.

"Her mom does know that it's not Halloween yet?" Steven muttered, rolling his eyes when seeing her for himself.

"Great! Another unworthy peasant standing in my way of getting the prize!" Mandy shouted, showing no remorse for Claudia who looked generally shocked at the others reactions towards herself and her mother.

Claudia's mother then let out a whimpering sound, Claudia wasted no time in comforting her by squeezing her hand which was firmly placed in her coat pocket.

However, the topic of conversation was soon diverted away from Claudia's mother as the clock struck ten meaning that the iron gates began to open, with Charlie's voice commanding the guests to enter.

The large crowd behind them cheered as the guests raced towards the gates, all desperate to get in at once.

"No way is blueberry boy beating me to it this time!" Mandy said as she ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

"I'm the first one in !" Mandy proudly declared as she saw the others follow behind her.

"Come forward!" Charlie said, the guests all did what they were told and came forward.

"Close the gates," Charlie said, the noise the gates made as they closed caused Claudia's mother to turn round before focusing back onto what was in front of her.

"Dear ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the chocolate factory" Charlie greeted as the guest lined up in one straight line, their eyes focused on what was about to happen right in front of them

"I would introduce myself, but what I have here in front of you says it better than I ever could…"

The three grey doors which were all attached to each other slowly began to open, revealing red curtains that soon lead to a singing puppet show.

_Charlie Bucket, Charlie Bucket ..._

_The Amazing Chocolatier._

_Charlie Bucket, Charlie bucket..._

_Everybody give a cheer!_

_He's modest, clever, and so smart,_

_He can barely restrain it._

_With so much generosity,_

_There is no way to contain it..._

_To contain...to contain...to contain...to contain._

Most of the group looked unimpressed with the show, apart from Eleanor and her aunt who were tapping their feet to the beat as well as Claudia humming along to the tune.

_Charlie Bucket, Charlie Bucket..._

_He's the one that you're about to meet._

_Charlie Bucket, Charlie Bucket ..._

_He's a genius who just can't be beat._

_The magician and the chocolate wiz..._

_The best darn guy who ever lived._

_Charlie Bucket, here he is!_

Suddenly a golden throne with a hint of red appeared from the middle of the puppet show, with Charlie Bucket sitting on it with one leg over the other, smiling. Instead of the puppets catching fire and burning like they did on the previous tour, they slowly moved away from the scene until Charlie was the only thing the guests could see.

"Hello everyone, I am Charlie Bucket and I hope we all have a fantastic time today!" Charlie said while smiling at each and every person, hoping to get a few smiles back which he did.

But not everyone was so pleased, and it didn't take long for that certain person to make that clear.

"So you're now the chocolatier that everyone makes an unnecessarily huge fuss about," Steven said, frowning at Charlie as he spoke.

"Yes, yes I am" Charlie replied, trying his best to act civilized.

"And he deserves all the fuss," Fiona said before cheerfully adding, "I remember you being in the news when you won Mr. Wonkas chocolate factory, I was only in my early twenties when I saw that."

Charlie beamed at her, silently thanking her for improving his mood.

"Anyway, I think we should get started with the tour, so why don't you lot introduce yourselves." Charlie offered.

Eleanor and Mandy both made a move towards Charlie, however, Eleanor was soon pushed to one side.

"I always go first!" Mandy declared as she walked up to Charlie.

"I'm Mandy Perkins, what's the prize and when do I get it!" Mandy snapped, her ice cold blue eyes sending shivers down Charlie's spine.

"Only time will tell" Charlie awkwardly responded, knowing no other way to tell her.

The next child to walk up to Charlie was Fernando Cruz.

"Fernando Cruz" was all he offered as an introduction. Leaning in to shake Fernando's hand Charlie was startled to find Bryant interfering.

"Look Bucket, Fernando is one of the most famous models in France and I personally spent hours into his appearance this morning, and I don't want to see that undone by your inexperienced hands."

Somewhat taken aback, Charlie nodded and gestured for the next child to introduce themself.

"Steven Fox" Steven mumbled, not making an effort to even approach Charlie.

Charlie smiled as the next person to walk up to him was Eleanor.

"Good morning Mr. Bucket, my name is Eleanor Mai, and this is my aunt Fiona," Eleanor said as she happily shook his hand.

"It's very nice to meet you too" Charlie replied before turning his attention to Claudia who was just as friendly with her greeting.

"Hello Charlie, I'm extremely pleased that I'm lucky to meet such a fantastic person."

I'm pleased to meet you too" Charlie responded before adding, "and your mother, too of course!"

When Claudia's mom didn't respond Claudia was quick to fill in for her.

"She's very shy but her name is Sonya Smith"

"Or hideous" Steven mumbled. Claudia glanced at Steven with a frown.

"Right then, shall we go in!" Charlie exclaimed before leading everyone through where the show had been and into a long gray corridor with a red carpet across the floor.

"Please just place your coats anywhere, " Charlie said, which everyone did apart from Sonya and the Perkins.

"Mr. Bucket, tell me why this room resembles a furnace?" Bryant questioned.

"Well we have to keep it warm in here because the workers cannot work in cold temperatures" Charlie explained.

"Who are your workers?" Eleanor asked.

"You'll see." Was all Charlie offered as an answer before guiding his guests through the long corridor. To pass the time away the children and parents began their own conversations.

Wanting to make friends Eleanor went over to Mandy who was happily walking at the front right next to Charlie.

"I like your coat" Eleanor complimented while trying to touch it. Unfortunately, Mandy smacked her hand away before saying, "don't touch what you can't afford" in a nasty tone of voice.

Charlie winced as he heard the shouting from behind him.

Feeling hurt and rather rejected Eleanor walked back to her aunt, shame filling her facial features. But Eleanor wasn't the only one on the receiving end to Mandy's rudeness.

Insulted that Eleanor tried to touch her coat, Mandy was unaware that she elbowed Fernando when trying to get far away from Eleanor as possible. Fernando raised an eyebrow at her soon afterwards, instantly grabbing her unwanted attention.

"Stop gawping at me!" Mandy demanded, giving Fernando one of her cold glares.

Fernando scoffed. "Oh please, as if I would take an interest in someone so painfully dull."

"Mother!" Mandy screamed as she hastily added, "he's bothering me!"

Taking in what her daughter had told her, Judy grabbed Fernando's arm before pushing him towards Bryant in disgust.

"Keep your scrawny son away from my daughter!" Judy hissed, leaving Mandy with a smug look on her face. Judy then walked away with the look of disgust still clearly visible.

"Ha! My sons worth millions compared to your ditch rat of a daughter!" Bryant said under his breath while straightening out Fernando's shirt. Although he didn't say it very loud, somehow he still managed to catch Judy's attention.

Judy and Bryant continued to scowl at each other for a few seconds before returning their attention to their children.

While his father dealt with Judy, Fernando suddenly found himself walking next to Steven, grimacing at his outfit.

"Those trousers don't compliment that jumper at all" Fernando bluntly stated towards Steven, jabbing at his hoodie as he spoke.

"Yeah? How would you like to compliment this!" Steven shouted, shoving a fist dangerously close to Fernando's face.

"That's what I thought!" Steven quietly spat before walking away.

To make herself feel a bit better, Eleanor pulled out the Wonka bar she had found her golden ticket in. However, she wasn't the only one the chocolate appealed to.

"Mother!" Mandy shouted, aggressively pointing a finger at Eleanor and her Wonka bar.

"Get me a Wonka bar right this minute!" Mandy commanded as if her mother was her slave.

"I will as soon as I possibly can my dear" Judy compromised.

"Soon isn't good enough!" Mandy snapped. She then walked up to Eleanor who was more than surprised after their earlier tiff.

"Give that to me!" Mandy yelled, snatching the Wonka bar out of her hand. Uncaring at the fact that Eleanor was on the verge of tears. Claudia also gave Mandy a shocked look.

Fiona tutted once Mandy had rushed back to her mother, having taken a huge bite out of Eleanor's Wonka bar.

"Typical, there always one who has no consideration for anyone else" was all Fiona could say, giving Eleanor a comforting pat on the shoulder.

Amongst all the negativity Eleanor, despite her setbacks did manage to build up enough confidence to quietly say hello to Claudia, who in response smiled back.

"Most of the kids here aren't very nice" Eleanor whispered, being careful so the others couldn't hear her.

"No" Claudia agreed.

"I can't believe what that Mandy did to you, " Claudia said, Eleanor sighed.

"Wel, my auntie has always told me that if someone is nasty, it's better to ignore rather than retaliate," Eleanor said, which Claudia agreed with.

"Er.. so are we friends?" Eleanor offered in a small voice, not really knowing what to expect.

"Yeah… sure " Claudia stammered before confidently adding, "after all us good girls must stick together."

The two girls then linked arms and carried on walking until the whole group stopped in front of a tiny door, which only seemed to be big enough for a mouse to go through.

"Behind this very door is the chocolate room that really brings the heart and soul to this factory!" Charlie announced.

"But why is the door so small man?" Joseph Fox asked.

"It's to keep all the chocolaty goodness inside!" Charlie replied while getting out a large set of keys, he fiddled around with them until he found the one that made a clicking sound once turned inside the keyhole.

Everyone except Charlie had a look of astonishment on their faces as their eyes were glued to the amazing scenery of the chocolate room.

"Come on everyone, in we go!" Charlie said, leading the guests inside the chocolate room.


	8. Sticky situation

Walking into the chocolate room, everyone's eyes widened as most of the guests let out gasps of astonishment. Their eyes glued to the magnificent sights of the chocolate room.

Since Charlie had been working with Mr. Wonka, the chocolate room had expanded quite a bit. The ground beneath their feet was completely covered in grass, which broke the fall of the Wonka bar Mandy had snatched off Eleanor, her fingers allowing the chocolate to slide from her grasp.

The room itself was covered with various types of candy. The right-hand side of the room contained the candy pumpkin field, the lollipop trees, the cream tops, the marshmallow mushrooms and the candy apple trees. On the left-hand side were some new candies consisting of milk, dark and white chocolate stepping stones, candy flowers, jelly bean stalks, gummy bear bushes and sticky toffee puddles which were currently fenced off.

The one thing that seemed to invade most of the room was the chocolate river, producing a large amount of chocolate coming from a waterfall at least ninety feet above them. The scent of the gorgeous looking chocolate alone was enough to make the guests mouths water, a few taking their time to appreciate the lovely smell.

Noticing the group taking an interest in the view and smells of the room Charlie decided it was time to talk.

"Please my dear guests, do be careful, don't lose your heads and whatever you do don't get over excited" Charlie warned, looking at everyone as he spoke.

"It's beautiful" Claudia stated as the group made their move to where Charlie was going.

"Yes, it's very beautiful" Charlie replied, letting a small smile escaped from his lips as childhood memories invaded his mind for a second.

"It looks divine" Eleanor and Fiona commented at the same time, smiling at each other in the process.

"Look sick bro" Joseph added.

"How revolting" Bryant muttered, wincing in disgust.

"I want it!" Mandy declared without any warning, stomping on the Wonka bar she had previously dropped.

"You want what darling?" Judy asked, slightly confused to what her daughter was getting at.

"I want all of it, the whole room!" Mandy shouted, shooting a demanding glare between her mother and Charlie.

Judy then turned to Charlie with what could have been a heart-warming smile.

"How much do you want?" Judy asked while staring at Charlie, who felt as if he was an animal, trapped in a cage.

"For what?" Charlie questioned despite already knowing what she was after.

"How much for the entire room, name your price Mr. Bucket, money is not a problem here," Judy replied in a low voice, creating a twisting sensation inside the chocolatiers stomach.

"The rooms not for sale Mrs. Perkins" Charlie simply responded, earning himself a harsh stare from Mandy.

"But I want it, what's the matter with that twerp!" Mandy yelled, stamping her foot out of anger.

Returning her focus on Charlie, Judy tried again with less patience.

"Mr. Bucket I shall ask you one more time, how much are you prepared to-"

Judy was cut off when Charlie silently held up a hand as if to say no more of this nonsense.

Mandy and Judy both scowled at the chocolatier before letting him carry on.

To get away from the sudden awkward silence Charlie led the group towards a narrow bridge, displaying the uplifting view of the chocolate river.

"Now the waterfall leading to the chocolate river is the most important element of the entire room" Charlie explained. "This waterfall here produces hot melted chocolate at only the finest quality."

"Oh, I can believe that," Fiona said, instantly pleasing Charlie.

"The chocolate river is important because it mixes the chocolate, churns it up, which makes it light and frothy for maximum taste when made into various types of chocolate bars."

Charlie grinned when stating, "by the way no other chocolate factory in the world mixes their chocolate by waterfall."

After making sure that everyone had crossed the bridge safely, Charlie called out for everyone's attention as a pipe was slowly making it's way into the chocolate river.

"These pipes lower themselves into the river, sucking up thousands of gallons an hour. They then carry it away to all different rooms in the factory." Charlie explained to a mixture of surprised and bored facial expressions.

"Do you like my meadow? Go on try some" Charlie offered to the bunch of confused guests.

"What do you think I am a horse?" Bryant sternly questioned.

Ignoring Bryant's question, Charlie tried again at convincing his guests to do something unimaginable.

"Do try some, please do, after all, it is edible. In fact, It's safe to say that this entire room is edible" Charlie said, now earning himself a few looks of amazement.

"You mean… we can eat the grass or anything for that matter?" Eleanor asked, the astonishment of what Charlie had told the group clear in her voice.

"That's a definite yes little girl, as I said everything in the room is eatable," Charle replied before something came to mind.

So before I let you go on and enjoy yourselves I must inform you that you are not to go near the chocolate river as it cannot be touched by human hands, and to stay away from the sticky toffee puddles as they are a work in progress, ok?"

The guests nodded at his instructions.

"So without further ado, let the fun begin!" the chocolatier exclaimed, gesturing for everyone to make their move.

Soon after his announcement most of the guests took the opportunity to explore the chocolate room as they rushed off in various directions.

Everyone, except for Bryant.

"Fernando!" he snapped, pulling Fernando over to his side, just as someone would with a dog on a lead.

"What are you playing at boy!" Bryant hissed, smacking his son over the head as he spoke.

"I was only going to look at the stuff father," Fernando said, trying to explain his motives to his father who looked unimpressed.

"What and willingly put those ghastly toxins inside of your body!?" Bryant snapped, leaving Fernando no time to explain further.

"Aren't you forgetting that you have a figure to maintain Fernando?" Bryant questioned in a tone of voice which Fernando didn't dare answer back to.

"Besides, all those nasty sugars will ruin your complexion" Bryant stated in a firm voice. Fernando only nodded in response.

"Have I made myself clear!" Bryant snarled as he dragged Fernando under a tree, where both of them were to silently stand until it was time to move on.

"Yes father" Fernando replied in a small voice.

Not too far away Joseph was attempting to climb one of the lollipop trees, only to get stuck halfway through. Having realized he had indeed got himself stuck it wasn't long before Steven noticed him hanging off from one of the branches, clinging on for dear life.

Mumbling to himself Steven forcefully kicked the tree, causing Joseph to lose his grip on one of the branches and fall into a heap on the ground, along with a few lollipops landing on top of his head in the process.

When he was able to shift the dizziness from falling off the tree, all he could see was the bottom of Stevens's trainers. Looking up he was greeted to a less than friendly facial expression.

"Explain."

"I was trying to get the big orange lollipop right at the top, I couldn't reach it so I tried jumping from branch to branch like Mario does with blocks only to…" Joseph trailed off, embarrassment overtaking his ability to speak.

Steven scoffed. "Oh, so you thought that just because you're wearing a Mario shirt you would suddenly have his superpowers?"

Steven scornfully chuckled at his brother's choice to stay silent.

"Uh, do you not know how to get up?" Steven questioned in a snappy tone before giving his brother a kick.

"Ow, that hurt!" Joseph said as he struggled to get himself back on his feet.

"Yeah, well it serves you right" Steven responded, rolling his eyes at his idiotic brother before walking off.

Having decided to stick together Eleanor and Claudia both wandered off over to the cream tops, the two girls and Fiona all grabbing some as they put it in their mouths. The delicious taste of the cream running down their throats.

But Sonya just silently stood there, watching the other three enjoy themselves.

"Wouldn't you like to try some?" Fiona offered, noticing how Sonya was just standing there.

"She doesn't like cream," Claudia said in response.

"Well, perhaps she would like to try something else?" Eleanor kindly offered, giving Sonya a sincere smile.

Sonya didn't speak nor move.

"Why don't we go over to the candy apple tree instead, would you like to do that mom?" Claudia said, earning a tiny nod from Sonya.

"Let's go!" Eleanor exclaimed rushing over to the candy apple tree.

Meanwhile, Mandy was also standing near the candy apple tree, desperately trying to grab one towards her left which was out of her reaching distance.

"Mother, get here now!" Mandy shouted, grabbing Judy's attention who was snacking on a few blades of grass.

"What is it my darling Mandy?" Judy asked.

"Get me that apple on the top left, I want it, and don't faff about while you're doing it" Mandy demanded.

"Yes sweetie" Judy replied, earning a disapproving scowl from her daughter as if to say, don't you sweetie me!

However, that certain apple didn't just appeal to Mandy as Claudia and her mother approached the toffee apple tree. Reaching for the toffee apple Claudia was only a snatch away from getting it until someone else's hand grabbed hold of the very same apple and ripped it off the branch.

"Er, I don't think so," Judy said, lowering her voice in an attempt to show that she was a higher class than them.

All Claudia could do in response was stare at the older woman as she proudly walked back to her daughter, with the apple she had wanted in her right hand.

Mandy glared as soon as she noticed her mother's return. "What took you so long!" Mandy snapped.

Before Judy was able to come up with an answer Mandy suddenly turned towards her left where the marshmallow mushrooms were.

"I want some of those marshmallows from that tree!" Mandy demanded. Judy took a glance at the apple she had made the effort to grab for her before her daughter snapped her out of her thoughts.

"I don't want that apple anymore" was the last thing Mandy said before running off to the marshmallow mushroom, knocking the apple out of her mother's hand which got squashed by Mandy's foot.

Claudia continued to give the Perkins an evil stare before getting interrupted as Eleanor and her aunt walked up to her and Sonya.

"What happened?" Eleanor asked, having somehow figured out that something had gone on due to their longer than expected departure.

"It doesn't matter," Claudia said, having been quicker than expected with her reply.

However, Fiona didn't look entirely convinced. "Did it have anything to do with the Perkins by any chance?"

Claudia didn't answer, not that she needed to.

"I think I'm going to have a word with her mother, you two stay here," Fiona said, walking off to find Judy.

"Claudia, let's go over here" Eleanor called out, Claudia soon followed without forgetting the recent incident.

It didn't take long for Fiona to find Judy. Patting her on the shoulder she was greeted with a stern stare.

"Excuse me Mrs. Perkins" Fiona began politely, only to be answered by a snappy response of, "can I help you?!"

Taking a deep breathe Fiona explained the situation. "I believe earlier this morning your daughter made a rude remark to my niece regarding our wealth, along with you snatching a toffee apple which was meant for Claudia's mother."

When she didn't get a response out of Judy, Fiona took as her chance to finish off what she was going to say.

"I just thought you and Mandy ought to apologize." Judy let out a scornful chuckle, quickly dismissing Fiona as if she was joking.

"No I don't think you're taking this seriously" Fiona replied, catching Judy's attention.

"You don't seem to realize that there are some people in the world who aren't as privileged as you and Mandy," Fiona added as calmly as she could manage.

"And why should that bother me?" Judy retorted, with an annoying air of superiority that Fiona instantly disliked.

"Because your company must make hundreds of thousands of pounds per year, don't you think that some of your profit would be better off going to charity, you know for those who need it more?"

Judy whipped her head around to face the much shorter Auntie as if she had made an outrageous suggestion.

"Did you see bin bags on my doorstep?"

"No I..."

"Look, dearie, I run a business, not a charity. Judy said, letting out a cackling laugh.

With tensions rising, Fiona decided to take a few deep breaths before responding to her inconsiderate comment.

"I know that charity begins at home but-"

"And that my dear is where it stays!" Judy hissed, cutting her off before walking away as if she had just accomplished something.

From around the corner, Claudia had witnessed their conversation, giving a murderous look at Judy until Eleanor distracted her from her thoughts.

During the time all this was happening Fernando and his father had kept to their word of being silent as they stood underneath a tree, keeping themselves to themselves when Fernando noticed something odd lurking near the chocolate river.

"Father, there's something down there. What is it, it's like a little person?" Fernando asked, pointing to where the little person was.

"What are you on about boy?" Bryant questioned before he too saw the odd little person, but now there was more than one.

"Mr. Bucket, come here!" Bryant called, Charlie soon followed with a smile on his face.

"What are they exactly?" Bryant asked, now intriguing more people to come and have a look as the rest of the group followed the sounds of their conversation.

Charlies smile then turned into a full-on grin.

"Oompa Loompas you say?" Judy asked.

"Who's ever heard of an Oompa Loompa?" Mandy grumpily stated.

"That name sounds familiar from some book or something, but I can't quite put my finger on the name of that book" Fiona added, chuckling a little.

"They are real, aren't they?" Joseph asked.

"Yes, the Oompa Loompas are real alright" Charlie happily confirmed.

"So they're dwarfs then?" Fernando commented, giving the chocolatier a questioning look.

But before Charlie was able to reply Steven beat him to it.

"Are you that dumb? There called Oompa Loompas, Charlie just said so!" Steven snapped, looking at Fernando as if he was a moron.

"Right so the Oompa Loompas are-" Charlie was suddenly cut off from his sentence as Steven had something else to add.

"Listen, Fernando, he said it again" was Stevens sarcastic remark, leaving Fernando looking like a fool.

Fernando then looked up at his father who scowled down at him.

"Don't you dare embarrass yourself or me like that again!" Bryant hissed, leaving Fernando with a squirming sensation in his stomach.

"As I was saying the Oompa Loompas are my workers, imported directly from Loompa land" Charlie cheerfully stated, earning a mixture of fascinated and disbelieving looks.

"Sounds like a made-up place to me," Bryant said, being one of the few guests giving Charlie a disbelieving look.

"Well they sound like amazing workers" Eleanor exclaimed, directing the conversation to a different topic.

"Yes, yes they are" Charlie replied, another smile creeping up on his lips.

Charlie then spent the next couple of minute explaining to the group how Mr. Wonka had found the Oompa Loompas in as much detail as he could remember, which was all of it. Once he had finished talking Charlie was about to let everyone keep exploring for a couple more minutes when a familiar interruption occurred.

"Mother gets me those Oompa Loompas right now, I want them all!" Mandy shouted, pointing a finger at the group of at least twenty of them. Steven rolled his eyes while a few others groaned.

"But sweetheart we have butlers and maids back at home, we don't need Oompa Loompas" Judy replied, causing Mandy to get sharper with her tone of voice.

"Oh just stick her head down the chocolate river, that will shut her up" Steven mumbled which luckily for him no one else heard.

"Yes but they should all be sacked, they can't get anything right!" Mandy yelled. Judy sighed knowing that she was beaten.

Before Judy could even open her mouth to propose an offer, Charlie interrupted by informing the guests they were allowed a couple more minutes to wander around before moving on to the next room.

For the second time, the guests either rushed over to the candies they hadn't tried or to where they had previously been.

* * *

Claudia's POV

Ok so since I arrived at the chocolate factory a whole variety of things have happened, and now is the time to put my plans into action.

From their interviews, I knew they would be self-centred, irritating, inconsiderate brats who thought of nothing else but themselves. But all that is to my advantage because they won't know what's going to hit them until it's too late.

To officially begin my plans who better to start off with the all-important, princess Mandy Perkins.

Ugh, her voice and her constant demanding whining is enough to make you want to yank all the blonde hair out of her feeble minded head!

Her mother is just as bad, fancy telling someone that they don't matter due to their lack of wealth?! I don't think she or her daughter are even aware of what suffering means?

So when the question of who the Oompa Loompas were and what they did arises, there was not a moment to lose to get my plan underway.

First of all, I had to set up the scene for where this unfortunate (or fortunate whichever way you see it) incident happens. So I gather a few of the candy pumpkins around a tree who I'm hoping Steven will find and mess around with.

Secondly, I need and will most likely get Mandy walking around the room, picking out what her heart desires while her moron of a mother trails behind her, taking in each and every demand as if Mandy was some kind of celebrity!

Thirdly I will then need to rudely distract her and then lead her to believe that it was Steven who did it.

As soon as the Oompa Loompa discussion finishes I am back to casually exploring the room with my mom, Eleanor, and her aunt.

"Hey, Claudia come and look at this!" Eleanor then gestures for me to come over, which I happily do. Besides, I get a better view of the candy pumpkins as well as little miss Mandy from there.

And my good fortune starts there as my eyes are soon focused on Steven who makes his way to the candy pumpkins.

But it doesn't end there! I then get to hear the lovely sounds of Mandy Perkins just around the corner. Just as I predicted she is informing her mother of what seems to be a never-ending list of things she so desperately needs.

"Right mother I want six of these cream tops, seven- no make that eight marshmallow mushrooms. I also want ten of these toffee apple trees along with ten candy pumpkins and twelve of these jelly beanstalks !" I heard Mandy say as she guided her mother around the room, pointing a finger every time she saw something she had to have.

You would think that by now Judy would have said something along the lines of, don't be ridiculous Mandy or young lady you're getting a bit too big for your boots. But no she just stood there, actually writing down her demands on a notepad, but then again that's what you get for showering a child in riches!

Anyway, I turn back round to check on Steven to find him stomping on a red candy pumpkin. I'm also greeted by the sounds of enjoyment as some parts of the goo from Stevens candy pumpkin splatters all over a chocolate tree trunk and on the grass.

"Oh yes and I also want you to steal some Oompa Loompas for me" was Mandy's final order for her mother to crack on with, which is lucky for me as there no better time to strike than when your prey is exposed to the naked eye.

Once Judy had scuttled away to follow little miss Mandy's instructions I had the full view of the prey.

I then had to ditch the company that was surrounding me, which was easier than I expected as they were very understanding when telling them I was too full to eat any more candy.

Having gotten my freedom it was time to show that putrid Perkins what she should have had coming ages ago.

To get started I rush behind one of the candy apple trees, carefully choosing which angle to stand at, to get the best chance of picking up some goo without being noticed.

It takes longer than expected due to the fact Steven kept glancing my way, but soon afterward I was able to capture just enough goo that he had unknowingly stomped near enough for me to reach.

I then proceed to chuck the goo directly at Mandy, the goo splattering all over the back of her tiger skin coat, making it all sticky. I carefully duck behind the tree so all she can see is Steven with the gooey culprit, laughing as he continued to squash the contents for his enjoyment.

It doesn't take Long for Mandy to stomp over to Steven, seething with anger as she gave him a shove to make herself noticed.

"How dare you throw goo at me you disrespectful jerk!" Mandy yelled at Steven who wasn't fazed in the slightest.

"I didn't throw goo at you." Steven bluntly replied, folding his arms to show his lack of concern.

This only made Mandy angrier. "Yes, you did don't deny it!" Mandy shouted, pointing that ever so deadly finger at him.

Scoffing at her ridiculous accusation Steven replied by shouting out "read my lips, it wasn't me!"

"I know it was, and if you don't admit it I shall tell everyone to call you blueberry boy because your hair is blue!" Mandy said in a childish tone, Steven rolled his eyes at how pathetic she was.

"Oh well done, you've spotted that I have blue hair, what do you want a gold star or perhaps in blue?" Steven jeered, setting Mandy off into a raging fit of anger.

"Right that's it!" Mandy screeched, plunging her hand into a pile of candy pumpkin goo. "This will teach you not to mess with anyone in above your class!" She then threw the goo directly at Stevens' face, which he swiped off in a matter of seconds.

"That's how you want to play eh? Then take this prissy Perkins!" Steven yelled, forcefully picking up some goo for himself. He then charged up to Mandy who decided to run away to avoid getting hit.

But little did she know she was running straight into her departure.

Going further into the chocolate room Mandy kept on running until she had officially reached her destination.

And it didn't take long for an ear piercing scream to make itself heard throughout the whole room.

Everyone including myself rushed over to where Mandy was, all gasping in shock at the sight before our eyes.

Mandy was sinking into one of the sticky toffee puddles, resembling quicksand.

As we all gathered round to witness the drama Eleanor could be heard whimpering, clutching to her aunt's side.

"Will she be able to get out safely auntie?" I heard her ask, to tell you the truth it made me flinch with the tiniest bit of guilt.

"I hope so" was all Fiona could say.

Then Charlie ran up to where we all were, stammering as he said something along the lines of, "I- I had those fenced off, I swear I did."

But his problems were about to get a million times worse as Judy was suddenly exposed to the same sight as us.

"Mandy!" she screeched as she saw her daughter helplessly sinking into liters of thick sticky toffee. She then whipped her head round at Charlie, glaring at him as if it was his fault.

"Mother, he pushed me in here!" Mandy yelled, yet again pointing her finger at Steven who couldn't care less.

"I didn't even touch you" Steven protested, "stupid girl" he muttered soon afterward.

"Do something Bucket!" Judy yelled, giving him a hard shove to force him to intervene.

"Quick Mandy grab this!" I shout, offering to be helpful by leaning a long lollipop stick close enough so she could reach it. Besides, I can't have them figuring out that I was the one behind all this.

But it was too late, her arms had already sunk into the sticky toffees grasp.

"Get out the way!" Judy spat, pushing me to one side as she tried to grab Mandy by the shoulders.

"Judy don't go near that puddle!" Charlie warned, desperately wanting to avoid two people getting stuck.

Unfortunately, Charlie's warning went ignored as Judy misjudged a step and joined her daughter in her distasteful destiny.

"Seems like you've gotten yourselves in a sticky situation there" Bryant stated, smirking at the Perkins misfortune.

"Shut up!" Judy snarled in response, most of her body being swallowed up by the toffee, her head being the only thing the remaining guests could see.

In Mandy's case, all you could see of her was her nose, those terrified blue eyes, and her forehead. On the plus side at least her mouth had been firmly shut by the toffee, as they say, no pain, no gain.

However, the excitement doesn't end there as we all soon discover that the toffee has now turned itself into a solid. Meaning that the Perkins are well and truly stuck!

Being unable to move Judy shouts a muffled, "get us out of here Bucket!"

Charlie then made some weird trilling sound, almost immediately after doing it one of the Oompa Loompas comes to stand in front of him awaiting its instructions.

"Please, could you be so kind as to free these two from the sticky toffee puddle?" Charlie asked before adding, "you will need to drill them out since the toffee has turned rock solid."

"A drill?!" Judy shrieked, her face transforming into a pale color. Even Mandy's eyes widened at the thought.

"It's the only way" Charlie responded before folding his arms and bowing to the Oompa Loompa who did the same in return.

"Right I think we should move along," Charlie said to the rest of us, with a slightly awkward tinge to his voice.

As we follow him towards the chocolate river I take one last look towards the Perkins and the Oompa Loompas preparing the drills. I can't help myself but grin at the success of my plan.

_After all, Mandy always goes first._


	9. Tit for tat

"Mr. Bucket, where are we going?" Eleanor asked as the group was being lead to the edge of the river, where a pink boat with at least fifty Oompa Loompas rowing could be seen floating around the corner.

Charlie turned round to smile at her. "Ah, well we are all going on a boat ride just like I did when I got to go on Mr. Wonkas tour."

"Sounds great to me" Claudia cheerfully stated, also earning a smile from Charlie.

While the guests were waiting for the boat Eleanor turned to face Claudia. "Do you like boat rides?" she asked.

"Oh yes," Claudia replied, giving her a small smile.

"Yo, that boat looks sick dude!" Joseph exclaimed towards Bryant, playfully shoving his shoulder as he spoke.

"I do not find the word 'dude' an appropriate use of the English vocabulary." Bryant huffed while brushing at the shoulder Joseph had nudged.

"Whoa," Joseph mumbled in response.

Fernando turned to look at Steven who was quick to notice him.

"What!" Steven snapped not long after noticing him staring.

"Do you think you have a chance of winning?" Fernando enquired, raising a questioning eyebrow.

Steven snorted. "A better chance than you."

Fernando scoffed, obviously quite offended. "Let's face it, Mr. Bucket will be looking for his heir to have charm and good looks."

"The opposite of you then" Steven replied, grinning at how his words were pushing Fernando's buttons.

"Actually I am one of the top three male child models in Paris, not that you would understand about such matters," Fernando said, glaring at Steven.

"What? Just because I don't worship your lack of personality or the car crash of facial features you call your appearance." Steven chuckled as Fernando's irritation grew increasingly.

"What on earth do car crashes have to do with how I look?" Fernando asked, genuinely confused as to what Stevens point was.

Bryant who had kept a sharp eye on the two boys since the beginning of their conversation scowled at Fernando as if he knew something that Fernando should have known. It didn't take long for him to make that crystal clear.

"Fernando" Bryant sternly whispered before adding, "that car crash reference was an insult boy!"

Fernando awkwardly folded his arms and looked away from the disappointment displayed on his father's face.

Steven chuckled at Fernando's stupidity.

"You know, it's true what they say" the blue haired boy began, "looks don't come with brains. But in your case, you don't even have the looks to back you up."

Both Fernando and Bryant Cruz glared at Steven, who rolled his eyes and walked off.

Bryant scowled at Fernando once more. "Get your act together boy!" Bryant snarled at his son who gave him a shaky nod.

"People, the boat is here!" Charlie shouted as the pink candy boat stopped right in front of the guests. "Ladies first!" Charlie said, gesturing for the ladies of the group to get on the boat.

Once they had sat down the remaining guests took their places on the boat. Charlie was the last one to take a seat, wincing at the front row spare seats that the Perkins would have been on.

Speaking of the Perkins as the boat began to gently drift away from where the guests had stood to wait for it, Eleanor turned to face Charlie who was sat next to her and Fiona with a questioning look.

"Mr. Bucket, will Mandy and Judy be alright?" Eleanor asked, concern filling her facial features despite not having gotten along with either one of them.

"Well it's less earache for us" Steven stated before adding, "but then again" while turning around to face Fernando sat behind him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fernando said, his comment only receiving a mischievously raised eyebrow from Steven as if he should have known.

"It's another insult son!" Bryant shouted towards Fernando which everyone else heard, causing most of them to turn around to look at him and Fernando. Embarrassed at the unwanted attention he leaned into Fernando's ear and sharply whispered, "don't say another word", his voice causing Fernando to squirm.

"I do have to admit that Mandy sinking into the toffee puddles must have been quite a traumatic experience for her, even if she did deserve it," Claudia said, mumbling the last part of her sentence to herself.

"Mandy and her mother will be just fine," Charlie said, hoping to change the subject of the conversation.

It wasn't long before his wishes came true as Eleanor had more questions to ask him. Claudia turned around to face Eleanor as if she was the one who should be getting the privilege of having Charlie sat next to her.

"Excuse me for asking but what was Mr. Wonkas tour of the chocolate factory like?" Eleanor asked, the question hitting Charlie like a runaway train.

"Well I… er…. It was certainly interesting and quite fascinating, a once in a lifetime opportunity which I would happily do all over again just to…" Charlie trailed off when his ability to speak betrayed him.

The memory of how Willy Wonka's smile sent a rush of joy through Charlie's heart along with the way Mr. Wonka treated him more sincerely during the tour alone, was enough to make Charlie's thoughts overtake him before quickly being snapped out of them.

"Is everything ok?" Fiona asked the chocolatier when noticing his sudden distracted facial expression.

"Er yes, yes I'm fine" Charlie replied, smiling as he spoke.

The candy boat which had until now been slowly drifting away from the chocolate waterfall, suddenly turned a sharp corner with the view of the chocolate waterfall slowly fading away as the boat was heading into an almost pitch black tunnel.

"Mr. Bucket where are we going?" Claudia asked.

" All will be revealed soon, so brace yourselves people as there will be quite a drop coming up" Charlie replied, looking at all the guests to make sure they had been listening to him.

As the Oompa Loompas kept on rowing nearer to the tunnel Bryant turned to face Charlie.

"Er Bucket, how can they see where they're going?" Bryant asked, a slight look of unease showing in his facial expression.

"They can't" was all Charlie said in response.

"Switch on the lights!" Charlie shouted, the lights instantly turning on just before a huge drop took place, officially beginning the bumpy ride.

Everyone except Steven wore a face of shock as the boat went faster and faster down the chocolate river tunnel, little bits of the chocolate splashing onto the guests.

"Now this is my kind of ride!" Steven exclaimed, showing the first real smile since arriving at the factory.

As the boat carried on through the twists and turns along with sudden little jumps, some of the guests wore looks of enjoyment while it made the others stomachs turn.

"I think I'm going to be sick!" Fernando whimpered, clutching his stomach as his face turned ashen.

Bryant turned to face him with a stern glare. "Don't you dare be sick on that shirt, it cost a fortune" Bryant warned, his eyes piercing into Fernando's.

Claudia turned to give Bryant a look of disgust, having heard his insensitive comment.

"If you barf on me I swear to god I'll smash you to pieces!" Steven threatened, showing Fernando a clenched fist that looked ready to punch something at any moment.

Fernando shrank back in his seat, now desperately trying to hold himself together. Not daring to give either his father or Steven any eye contact.

Once the boat had made a stop outside a few rooms, some which were locked by large round door with brightly glowing colored letters at the top and wheels for handles, while others were left wide open.

"Where are we, man?" Joseph asked a look of glee on his face as he looked into some of the rooms.

"Ah, these are some important rooms we are passing, take a look here for instance!" Charlie said, pointing to a room showing a cow being whipped by Oompa Loompas holding whips, hoping that one of the children could recreate one of his favorite childhood memories.

"Whipped cream!" Claudia and Eleanor both blurted out, looking at each other when realizing they had both figured it out.

"Yes, well done you two!" Charlie exclaimed in delight, earning himself a beam from both girls.

"I don't get that man," Joseph said, confusion invading his facial features.

Acknowledging his confusion Steven rolled his eyes before shouting out, "they are whipping the cows with whips to make whipped cream, it's obvious!"

"Sorry dude" Joseph murmured apologetically, looking away from his younger brother.

"You're as dumb as him!" Steven snapped, pointing at Fernando who groaned.

"How dare you call me stupid!" Fernando said, earning a laugh from Steven.

"Oh, I'm sorry for saying you're stupid," Steven said in mock guilt before adding, "I thought you already knew!"

When Steven had turned back around to facing the front, Bryant jabbed at Fernando's arm as if to silently say, he's right you know.

The guests then went past several other rooms before the boat suddenly rotated, swinging itself to the left.

"Here we go again!" Claudia exclaimed, clearly enjoying the ride.

Once again the boat made a few rough twists and turns before finally settling on stopping at one huge room. The door locked with the same wheel like handles, on the top the door read in huge colorful letters, **The inventing room.**

"The inventing room, sounds interesting?" Fiona said as soon as the boat had stopped.

"Oh, it is" Charlie replied with a smile on his face. "Right everyone we are stopping here because I would like to show you one of my favorite rooms in the whole factory!" Charlie exclaimed, rubbing his hands together in his excitement.

"This sounds like my kind of room auntie" Eleanor stated as Charlie lead the group through the large door.

As the group arranged themselves into an orderly line just before walking into the inventing room, Claudia who was behind Fernando and Bryant Cruz took a quick glance at Bryant, narrowing her brown eyes at him.

She then quickly turned her gaze away from him and focused on her new surroundings in front of her.


	10. Blown out of proportion

"This ladies and gentlemen this is the inventing room where all our present and future ideas for new candies are stored." Charlie said, smiling at all the guests even if the smile was focused more on the two girls.

"Sounds fascinating!" Claudia said, returning Charlie's smile from earlier.

"It truly is" Charlie happily stated before adding, "and these machines that surround the entire room are only a fraction of the candies I wish to have selling worldwide in the future!"

Looking around the room the guests were greeted by the sights of various machines, each and everyone one of them producing a different type of candy. Although the machines took up a good majority of the room, towards the distance a wide chemistry set was seen with all different colored liquids inside each conical glass bubbling away.

"Oh look, auntie, a real chemistry set!" Eleanor cheerfully pointed out, giggling with excitement.

"Ah I thought that would catch your eye, however, I cannot let you touch any of it as there as some chemicals which could lead to lethal results" Charlie warned, however, the smile remained on Eleanor's face.

"That's ok, I understand" Eleanor replied, making Charlie smile at her level of understanding.

"Right everybody you may explore the room just like you did with the last one, but this time please don't touch anything. Oh and please do not get tempted to sneak a peek next door, as there's some important product testing is going on" Charlie said, waving his hand as a signal for them to have some free time.

Just as they did with the previous room, the guests rushed off to the machine of their choice.

Unlike the others it had taken a bit longer for Claudia to work out which machine she wanted to see. Once she had made a decision she and her mother both went over to it, until Sonya misjudged a step which caused her to nearly trip over.

But the slightly odd thing that occurred just as Sonya had nearly tripped over, her left leg stretched a little wider than any other person's leg would. Claudia's eyes widened when noticing this along with the weird stare Bryant was giving her and her mother.

"Stop gawping at her, she's not a clown!" Claudia snapped, instantly regretting it soon afterward.

Luckily nobody else had been paying attention to her snappy sentence. Bryant only huffed at her before walking off.

However, the attention had soon passed over to Eleanor who was asking Mr. Bucket what a certain type of candy was. Soon enough the whole group had walked over to Eleanor and Fiona, wondering what she had found.

"It's a good thing you asked actually" Charlie began as he waited for the guests to crowd around him. "Now these are rainbow rocks, you just suck on them and they turn you into all the seven colors of the rainbow in the correct order!"

"It sounds wicked!" Joseph stated with a grin.

"Sounds stupid" Steven muttered under his breath.

"Sounds dodgy to me," Bryant said, giving Charlie a disbelieving look.

"Well there's only one way to find out, so who would like to try one?" Charlie asked, looking at each person as he spoke.

Claudia was the first one to answer the chocolatiers question.

"I think I'll pass thank you" Claudia politely declined.

"No way" Steven muttered soon afterward.

"Joseph?" Charlie offered, his offer was soon met with beady eyes from the older Fox brother. Unfortunately, all it took was a blunt comment from Steven to put him off.

"Fernando, would you like to try it? Since you haven't actually tried anything yet." Charlie asked, not daring to say the other part of the sentence that plagued his mind.

Fernando let out a small smile towards Charlie, but as he reached out to accept it Bryant smacked his hand away instantly grabbing the sweet out of his grasp.

"What are you doing boy?" Bryant snarled before hastily adding, "do you want to turn into one of those fat spotty slobs you see on the streets?!".

Fernando gulped as his father then turned to Charlie, slamming the rock shaped sweet back into the chocolatiers hand with a muffled sentence of, "no thank you, Bucket."

"I do apologize, " Charlie said, a hint of sadness in the chocolatiers eyes.

In the end, it was Eleanor who stepped up to try the candy, placing yet again another smile on the chocolatiers face.

"Please, may I try it?" Eleanor kindly asked.

Now having been given the sweet, she wasted no time in carefully putting it into her mouth. A tingling feeling developed immediately after she began sucking on it, she then looked down to her hands as they along with her face turned red. After a few seconds, her face and hands transformed into a bright shade of orange followed by yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

The others stared at her in shock that the sweet had swiftly turned her into each color of the rainbow in the correct order.

Claudia cringed when Eleanor had been in the process of being blue.

"Wow, that was amazing!" Eleanor exclaimed once her skin color had returned to normal.

"It was extraordinary" Fiona added, patting Eleanor's shoulder as she spoke.

"Well, I can assure you that's not the only thing that you will find fascinating in here, come and have a look," Charlie said, gesturing for the group to follow him.

However as the group made proceeded to follow the chocolatier Joseph hadn't been concentrating on where he was going, therefore causing an incident. This lead to him bumping into Steven who crashed into a machine, which spilled a good portion of juice down the front of his hoodie that soon turned into a noticeable stain.

"Joesph you utter buffoon!" Steven yelled, looking as if he wanted to punch his brother.

"I'm sorry bro, I -" Joseph was cut off by Charlie who had something in his hand.

"Actually this gives me the perfect opportunity to show you my latest invention," Charlie said, now holding up what looked like a can of drink.

"Oh yeah? And an ordinary can of drink works wonders does it?" Steven challenged, giving the can a strange look.

"That is where your wrong Steven Fox, you see this is not a drink," Charlie explained, Steven frowned in response.

"Here, I'll show you" was all Charlie said before opening the can and splashing some of the liquid onto where the stain had surfaced on Stevens hoodie.

"What was that for!" Steven shouted, glaring at the chocolatier while Joseph stood next to him with his mouth wide open.

"Look at your hoodie" Joseph whispered, pointing down to where Charlie had splashed him.

Looking down at his hoodie Steven found that the area where the stain had been had vanished, "what the actual…" Steven trailed off as his sentence came to a sudden halt.

"As you can see the stain has indeed disappeared!" Charlie cheerfully stated, a grin forming on his lips.

"But how?" Fiona asked, amazed at the effects of the product.

"Well, my dear guests what I had just used was my new invention the stain removing shake. This is for the messy kids whose parents are fussy about keeping their clothes clean, one splash of this and the stain is gone!"

"Oh and another great thing about it is it dries instantly after being splashed onto something nor does it smell or leave a sticky substance behind." Charlie happily added, enjoying the astonished facial expressions from some of the guests.

"Awesome!" Joseph exclaimed in response.

"Does it work on any kind of stain?" Eleanor asked curiously, giving the can an interested gaze.

"Oh yes, and it's portable so you can take it with you whenever you need it, even if it has already been opened" Charlie replied, the same smile remaining visible since Eleanor had tried his rainbow candy.

"Works on any stain eh?" Steven said to himself before snatching the can from Charlie's hand and pointing it towards Fernando.

"Hey, I wonder if I splash enough of this all over him, perhaps it would make him disappear!" Steven jeered, laughing when seeing Fernando's anxious reaction.

"Get lost," Fernando said, choosing to walk away from the insult.

"Now I shall let you have your free time like I intended, so go on and enjoy yourselves!" Charlie said for the second time, in a matter of seconds Charlie found himself standing alone.

The joy of having the opportunity to try one of Mr. Buckets latest inventions stuck to Eleanor like glue. "Hey, auntie!" Eleanor called, gesturing for Fiona to come and join her.

"What other extraordinary candy have you found Eleanor?" Fiona asked, walking over to her niece to join her in her new discovery.

Eleanor didn't answer straight away as she began to reach out for one of the sweets when it suddenly jumped into her hand, giving her a slight fright. Soon afterward her fright had turned into a lighthearted giggle from both girls as they realized what the sweet was.

"Jumping jelly babies," Fiona said while softly laughing.

Charlie turned to where Eleanor and Fiona were standing, once again smiling at how much general interest she took in the factory and the chocolatier himself. For only a few seconds he could see his eleven-year-old self loving Mr. Wonka's entire factory and his incredible inventions.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts Charlie went over to see what the others were doing.

Meanwhile, Joseph Fox had been standing near a completely different machine for over five minutes and was standing alone until Steven had approached him with a bored facial expression.

"Why are you just standing there like a lost dog waiting for a home?" Steven asked, rolling his eyes when Joseph gave him a grin.

"I'm eating chocolate" Joseph replied, Steven frowned when noticing there was nothing in his hand.

"No your not" Steven bluntly said.

"Yeah I am dude," Joseph said, wiggling his eyebrows as if he was being smart.

Steven huffed at his idiot for a brother. "For god sake, there's nothing there!" Steven shouted, grabbing his arm to find that he felt something odd in his brother's hand.

"Care to say that again bro?" Joseph asked flipping his jet black hair, earning a scowl from his younger brother.

"Go on then, surprise me," Steven said, returning back to his usual snotty tone of voice.

Joseph didn't respond as he stepped away from where his body had been blocking the label which read, Invisible Chocolate Bars for Eating in Class.

Steven groaned. "Pathetic" he mumbled moments later before walking off to bother Fernando who was being fussed over by his father by telling him to look his best.

When Bryant went to focus on his own appearance Steven approached Fernando, a sly grin on his face.

"I swear your parents dropped you of the Eiffel tower when you were born," Steven said, earning himself a glare from Fernando.

"Go away" was all Fernando said in response, tempting Steven to annoy him even more.

"No wonder your dad thinks your a disappointment" Steven continued, laughing at Fernando's reaction.

"No, he doesn't, he loves me!" Fernando snapped, "at least one of my parents bothered to take me" he added. Steven whipped his head round to face him, with a murderous facial expression.

"Want to say that again squirt?" Steven spat, clearly angry at Fernando's sharp response.

Fernando let out his first confident smile. "You criticize me for apparently not being worthy of life despite being one of the top three models in Paris, yet your parents couldn't give a toss about what happens to you!"

Steven let out a mock yawn. "Oh do excuse me while I die prematurely of passive boredom!" Steven growled, getting dangerously close to losing his cool.

"It's just the truth, is that what you find threatening? If so then why don't you do everyone including myself a favor and get lost." Those were Fernando last words as the smile he developed was soon swept off his lips as Steven came charging towards him, with his fist firmly clenched.

"Right that's it!" Steven roared, grabbing Fernando by the hair and punching him several times in the face just as his brother, Bryant and Charlie came rushing over to break up the fight.

"No bro!" Joseph shouted as he got Steven by the arms, dragging him away from Fernando who was heavily breathing from the impact of Stevens punches.

"Get off me you animal!" Fernando cried as soon as Steven had been taken away.

"You don't look so fashionable now, do you, pretty boy!" Steven yelled, struggling to free himself from his brother's grip.

"You two stop this please!" Charlie shouted before calmly adding, "I can clearly see that a disagreement has taken place, but for the sake of the others can we please just do the decent thing and apologize."

"No, he still has a face!" Steven snarled, shooting a fierce glare at Fernando who was still left in a heap on the floor.

Charlie sighed. "Alright let's just give everyone some space and move on." Was the chocolatiers suggestion which was soon followed through. As most of the guests went back to looking at the machines and the candies they made, Bryant yanked his son up off of the floor and dragged him to the back of a huge machine.

"You're a mess!" Bryant growled, lifting Fernando's head up to examine the bruises which had already started appearing on the areas where Steven had struck him.

"Tidy yourself up boy!" Bryant spat, giving his son a hard shove. Fernando winced at himself as he saw that his shirt was covered in creases along with a tear on his left sleeve. His hair was in a tangled, messy state along with his trousers having picked up a large amount of dirt from the floor.

Fernando sighed in remorse as he went off to do what he was told.

* * *

**Claudia's POV.**

After witnessing that fight, i think its time to get part two over and done with.

Alright, as much as I want to do this I can't help thinking it should be for another certain person. Unfortunately, this certain person (Bryant Cruz) just wouldn't fall for it so I'm afraid it's gotta be you, Fernando.

I mean anyone with common sense would agree with me when saying that Fernando isn't that bad of a person, he's just misguided with insensitive comments and constant berating. No wonder he tries to act vain.

I mean look at him, he's skinny as a string bean and his bones practically peak out from under his shirt!" I can't imagine how anyone could want this as an ideal figure? By the looks of him if he was to be jumped on by a dog his bones would snap in a matter of seconds.

If I was an adult and half his size I would give that beastly Bryant a piece of my mind…

Anyway enough of the sympathy, I'm not supposed to be feeling sorry for these brats!

So while the others were all fascinated by the incredible inventions I had sneaked off to the testing room next door, and let's just say I found something rather interesting just lying around on the table.

This object of interest turned out to be a list of all the inventions that had some issues with all the information I needed of what had gone wrong in a good amount of detail.

One thing, in particular, stood out from the rest, it was a product called the fizzy lifting drink. It turns out that this fizzy lifting stuff is supposed to make people fly up into the air almost as if they were flying, and burping is the only way to get back down. However, the issue with it was that every time the product was tested it would make whoever was experimenting it expand into a huge ball of gas. Interesting eh?

That would certainly leave Bryant with something to shout about!

Without a moment to lose I quickly discover where all the failed cans of the fizzy lifting drinks were kept, snatching one from the top row I then promptly making my swift exit to join the others back at the inventing room.

As I suspected they had all wandered off in different directions, meaning that I have to be extra careful when walking around in case I get caught. But being as skilled as I am at being secretive it didn't turn out to be such a problem.

Now for my second best talent, creating a distraction.

Even that didn't take much effort as I found Fernando and his foul father silently stood by a machine. Bryant's eyes were fixed on Fernando as if he was a dog, his voice being the lead.

All I had to do to ensure my distraction would be good enough to gain Fernando's attention was to aim one of the machines that makes these exploding candies.

Soon after a few changes were made in the wiring these exploding candies did indeed explode straight in Bryant's face, who was being helplessly smacked by these little blessings. His face was priceless as he kept receiving a group of them continue to aggressively hit him like blades.

Come to think of it his words must have the same effect on Fernando.

I then took my chance to grab Fernando's attention, asking him ever so nicely to follow me and to my slight surprise, it worked. Given the fact we had never spoken before, mind you Bryant would probably think I was some kind of peasant trying to inflict changes to Fernando's style.

Ok, the conversation didn't go quite to plan as it took a bit longer than expected.

"Uh hello?" was Fernando's suspicious greeting.

In the sweetest voice, I could manage I politely told him that my name is Claudia and I had wanted to speak to him about an interesting discovery.

Fernando gave me a questioning look which is understandable so I get him to trust me by throwing a few compliments here and there, (which by looks of him wouldn't go amiss).

"You know your probably one of the more decent kids here today," I say before adding, "not to mention that you seem like a nice person."

"Uh… thanks" Fernando replied, still looking wary of me.

So I decide to get straight to the point.

"Look I have something here truly spectacular, just like your appearance" I replied, earning myself the tiniest smile from the French male model.

I then pull of the drink which I pass over to Fernando to look at, he gives me a blank look.

"Uh, why are you showing me this?" Fernando questions, just as suspected. Luckily I'm quite quick to come up with suitable answers when necessary.

"I'm showing you this because your the only one I can fully trust to keep it a secret, Eleanor would only blurt it out to Charlie and Steven would make some sort of snide comment towards it," I replied, noticing Fernando wincing at the mention of Steven.

"Right, and what is this?" Fernando asked, gesturing towards the can that read fizzy lifting drink.

Now that he had asked that golden question, it was the perfect time for the mind blowing answer!

"You see I made a journey to investigate what they had to hide next door and I found the very product that's in your hands, which just so happens to improve your appearance."

Before Fernando could question my motives I then say, "this drink right here is designed to help people who care about their looks as much as you do without making any effort whatsoever."

"How so?" Fernando asked while I try to remain calm despite getting slightly irritated on how long it was taking to persuade him to drink it.

"Well, the fizz inside the drink lifts and dissolves any evidence of past, present and even future zits occurring on your silky smooth skin." This sentence does attract Fernando's interest.

"So my father could also take this ?" Fernando asked. By this time I was tempted to force it down him.

"No, it's specifically made for those entering their preteen and teenage years, as acne is a cruel condition to capture." But speaking of his father puts an ideal finishing touch to the discussion.

"Think about it? Imagine how proud your father will be when he sees your fabulously flawless face?" Now that was the last straw which leads him to actually drinking it!

Suddenly he brings the can up to his lips and gulps the stuff down his throat. I didn't think he could drink so much in such a short space of time.

"Go find your father!" I exclaim, gesturing for him to go over and show Bryant his new discovery.

(It will certainly be a discovery alright)

After thirty seconds of trying to find his father, Fernando suddenly stopped in his tracks to find himself feeling a bout of discomfort. Luckily he had got himself far enough to be in full view for all the others to witness.

Glancing over to my left it wasn't long before someone else notices some changes and wastes no time in informing Bryant who had now escaped from the sweet attack.

"Uh, is Fernando gaining weight?" I suddenly hear Fiona ask, grabbing the attention of the body bashing Bryant Cruz.

"What?" Bryant mumbled before turning towards his son who had now begun the process of bloating up.

Bryants disbelieving look transforms into one of a mix between shock and rage.

"BUCKET!" he roars, catching the chocolatiers attention. Once Charlie comes rushing over, he then adds a high pitched sentence of, "what kind of trickery is this?!"

Charlie can only squeak for a pure second before making that weird trilling noise again, at least a group of ten Oompa-Loompas gather around him.

"How did he manage to find that?" I hear Charlie anxiously whisper, sweat beginning to gather round his forehead.

One of the Oompa Loompas helplessly shrugs as they all turn round to watch Fernando's mishap.

By this time everyone had walked over to witness the big event, some finding it more entertaining than others.

"What's happening to him!" Bryant snapped, fiercely glaring between Charlie and Fernando.

Charlie awkwardly coughs before explaining. "Well this fizzy lifting drink is supposed to lift you into the air, unfortunately after a few extra things had been added to give a bit more of a kick ended up in these disastrous results."

"And!" Bryant snapped, demanding more of an explanation.

But his extended explanation got interrupted by a small-voiced pitiful plea.

"Help me, please!" Fernando begged as he continued to blow up like a balloon causing some of the buttons from his shirt to ping off. This only earned him a hysterical laugh from Steven.

"You did this didn't you!" Bryant yelled when hearing Steven laugh, whipping his head around to point an accusing finger at Steven who wasn't fazed in the slightest.

"Guess again Sherlock Holmes." Steven retorted.

Bryant then turned to face his son, seething with anger. "Fernando you foolish boy!" he yelled as well as shouting something in French.

Fernando who was now at least a five-foot tall ball of gas tried to explain, beginning the process of pointing towards me before his face also swelled up, leaving him unable to talk.

"What's he doing now?!" Bryant yelled, taking a couple of steps closer towards his son whose skin color was now rapidly turning a ghostly shade of white.

"Careful, he might explode!" Eleanor warned as she gently pushed Bryant aside.

"Because of the extreme amount of gas that's inside him it causes a drastic change of skin color, " Charlie said, anxious to look at Bryant's seething facial expression.

"He's supposed to be modeling at the Paris awards ceremony tomorrow!" Bryant yelled, torn between pointing at Charlie and Fernando.

I was tempted to grab that man by the shoulders and violently shake him while yelling, your son is clearly distressed due to blowing up like a frickin balloon and all you can do is rant on about some pathetic award ceremony which will only make you worse as a person!

However I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts when we all noticed Fernando's feet slowly floating off the ground, I couldn't help noticing his eyes were slightly watery as he felt himself being lifted up until his head was squashed into the ceiling.

Bryant who had the same disgusted look since his son's mishap started then turned to Charlie, showing actual concern but not for his son's well-being.

"What if he doesn't go back to normal? He may never model again!" Bryant shouted, spitting spraying Charlie's face as he spoke.

"Ugh, what a disaster that would be" Steven sarcastically scoffed. I was pretty much thinking the same thing.

"If I hear one more word!" Bryant threatened, snapping his head around to give the uncaring blue haired boy a death stare.

"WORD!" Steven shouted out. He then looked at Bryant as if he was silently saying I said one more word, so now what? Even I must admit that was quite funny.

Bryant's fists were clenched as he decided to ignore Stevens comment. He then sadly huffed as he unbelievably blurted out, "I can see it now, he'll be a laughing stock and I'll lose thousands by the minute!"

Steven then approached Bryant, giving him a mock comforting pat on the shoulder just before saying, "you know you could always donate him to science research, they love abnormal things."

Bryant aggressively shoved Stevens hand off his shoulder, growling at the blue haired boy's insult.

"Better still why don't you trade yourself in while you're at it" Steven muttered before walking back to his brother.

At this point Fernando who had now finished swelling up along with floating up in the air tried to move then talk, having soon realized he couldn't move nor speak he let out a disappointed moan.

"Bucket, what do you have to say for yourself?!" Bryant demanded before fiercely adding, "you better do something about this!"

Charlie then gathered round the group of ten Oompa-Loompas from earlier and gave them instruction to gently pull Fernando down from where his head was currently leaning against the ceiling. They were then to get all the gas out of him once they had managed to bring him down safely.

The Oompa Lompa who was given the order did the same bow along with crossing his arms, before he and the others went off to complete their task.

Is that it?!" Bryant harshly shouted, as if he was expecting more which he wasn't a stranger to make loud and clear.

"I shall have you know that if anything goes wrong during the procedure, I will be suing this factory for millions I tell you, so mark my words Bucket!" Bryant spat.

Charlie sighed, "I assure you Mr. Cruz that Fernando will be back to his normal self in no time" was all Charlie could say, despite the look on his face showing that he didn't really know what would happen.

Charlie then gathered the rest of us into a line as we left Bryant and the ten Oompa-Loompas to deal with Fernando's fiasco.

"Even for you Bucket, this is outrageous!" Bryant roared just as we were about to leave.

Walking out the door I took one last look at Fernando, who had his head bowed down as if he was about to receive a good old ear bashing.

I almost felt sorry for the boy.

On the other hand, that's one less kid standing in the way of my plans.

_Au revoir Fernando._


	11. Devious delights room

Guiding the six remaining guests along the corridor, Charlie chose to stay silent as his mind ran through the unplanned events of the tour so far. Grimacing at each time something had gone wrong, a harsh feeling of shame stuck to the chocolatier like glue as the guilt continued to eat away at him. It wasn't until he heard an exclamation from Joseph that he was snapped out of his thoughts.

"Where are we going dude?" Joseph asked, eager to know where Charlie was about to lead them next.

Forcing a smile on his face Charlie turned to reply to his question with,"that's for me to know and for you to find out."

"Aw, man" Joseph complained, earning an eye roll from Steven.

Continuing to walk through the corridor Eleanor patted Claudia's shoulder as she kindly asked, "what do you think of the tour so far?"

"It's great" Claudia replied, trying her best to smile nicely.

"It's a shame those bad things happened to Mandy and Fernando" Eleanor suddenly stated, creating a lump in Claudia's throat.

"Yeah" Claudia agreed, hiding a frown as she spoke.

"Although maybe if we are extra careful, we could end up winning the prize together! Wouldn't that be fantastic?" Eleanor cheerfully said, grinning as she went to wrap Claudia in a hug.

"Er, maybe" Claudia quickly responded, unaware of just how quickly she spoke, pulling away from the hug seconds later.

Before their conversation could go any further Charlie turned to face the guests when they arrived at a large red door that said, **The devious delights room.**

"Devious delights room? Sounds interesting" Claudia stated, raising an eyebrow when thinking of what could be at the other side.

"I bet it's something fabulously outstanding!" Eleanor cheered enthusiastically, clapping with glee.

"Indeed it is" was all Charlie responded with before slowly releasing what was hiding behind the other side of the door.

As the door opened the guest's eyes were greeted to the sights of all different types of candy filling out the entire room. Although it was similar to the chocolate room, this time everything had its own individual place with clear labels of what each object was.

"This everybody is the devious delights room, where each candy has a purpose" Charlie proudly declared, the guests gasping at what was in front of their very eyes.

"Sounds sick!" Joseph exclaimed, grinning at Steven who rolled his eyes.

"Fascinating" Steven sarcastically added a few moments later.

Ignoring Stevens snide comment Charlie gestured for everyone to follow him until they ended up stood in front of a machine, which was smoothly popping out square light brown colored sweets onto a conveyer belt.

Taking one of the candies off the conveyer belt he held it up so everyone could see it.

"Now this people is one of my favorite candies, the cavity filling caramels. These are for the kids who consume a few too many sweets than what is healthy for them. And what these do is when they discover a cavity, all they then have to do is stick it where the cavity is, which instantly fills it in so it's no longer there! Isn't that neat?" Charlie explained, mentally wincing at his last part of his sentence that instantly reminded him of Willy Wonka.

"It's extraordinary" Fiona commented, showing no worries of displaying her amazement.

Gaining a little more confidence Charlie then walked over to another machine, this time it was producing what looked like normal Wonka bars.

"Mr. Bucket these are Wonka bars and my favorite kind too!" Eleanor cheerfully exclaimed as she saw they were Chilly chocolate creme flavored. This earned her a smile from the chocolatier.

"Quite right there Eleanor, however, these are not any kind of Wonka bars. These are Wonka bars that grow back into a whole bar within seconds, even if you have only taken the smallest bite out of it!"

"Wow" Eleanor whispered to her aunt who nodded with agreement.

"How pointless" Steven mumbled, catching the chocolatiers attention.

"These bars are specifically made for those who get very little allowance money, how is that pointless?" Charlie asked as calmly as he could manage to the glaring blue haired boy.

Steven rolled his eyes as if the chocolatier was an idiot.

Before Steven could even open his mouth, Joseph interrupted by saying, "please don't do it, bro". Needless to say, he was ignored.

"Look you obviously know nothing about business. You say that this will benefit thousands of people right? However all these people have to do is buy one chocolate bar, then never have to go to buy another one. This will eventually make your business go bankrupt, and all because of one stupid sale." Steven bluntly explained, still giving Charlie the same facial expression.

"You know you really shouldn't mumble, I can't understand a word you're saying" Charlie replied. A twisting sensation developing soon after finishing his sentence.

"Deaf, as well as dense" Steven darkly muttered, earning a sad look from his older brother who he rolled his eyes at.

Having heard the blue haired boys mumbled statement, Charlie smiled as he promptly put Stevens snide comment behind him.

"People, I shall now let you explore this room for yourselves" Charlie announced, "go on knock yourselves out, but not literally!"

The six guests then scurried off to look at a candy of their choice.

Eleanor and Fiona who for once had gone their separate ways for the first time since entering the factory. Eleanor had found pillow shaped sweets which looked like they were made of marshmallows, she was soon proved correct as she laid her head onto the pillow, letting out a pleasant sigh as she leaned back into it. Gently ripping a small piece of it off she was greeted to the soft texture of the marshmallow as it melted into her mouth.

Turning to look at the label she saw large bold orange letters with a mini explanation in a smaller font at the bottom which read, Eatable marshmallow pillows- no more cravings for midnight snacks!

"Wonderful" was all Eleanor could say as she took another small piece of it.

Her aunt Fiona had found herself looking at a machine that was producing ice creams in ice cream cones, but the unusual thing was that the ice cream had steam coming from it.

"Well this is new," Fiona said as she gently took one from the conveyer belt and began to dig into a vanilla flavored ice cream. Soon enough she was gasping in delight as a warm feeling traveled down her chest, which soon left every part of her body with the same warm sensation.

"Delightful" Fiona stated as she saw the label above her which read, Hot ice creams for cold days.

Fiona softly chuckled to herself before deciding she wanted more.

However, things weren't as calm with Joseph Fox as he had been frantically running around the room as if he was an athlete. Not having a good idea on what he wanted to settle with he had decided to rush around the room, scoffing as many sweets as he could in one go.

After having rushed around for the past five minutes Joseph had finally stopped over to a tube that was popping out small, round red sweets into small boxes of six at a time.

Joseph's eyes lit up when discovering the interesting looking sweets, he was then successful enough to grab one just as it had popped out of the tube. Once he had placed the sweet in his mouth he wore a happy facial expression, that was until he felt a burning sensation forming inside his mouth soon after sucking it. His face then turned into a deep shade of red as he felt the burning sensation almost unbearable as each second went by.

Now finding the pain horrendously excruciating, Joseph screamed from the impact of the extreme burning as fire blasted from out of his mouth, just like a dragon. When the fire had stopped Joseph was left breathing heavily as he struggled to recover from his sudden shock.

Steven who had been standing behind him since he had first felt the burning sensation, rolling his eyes at the fact his older brother hadn't read the label.

Despite still heavily breathing Joseph had managed to notice Steven walking towards him, an unimpressed look filling his facial features.

"Look to your left" Steven emotionlessly said a few moments later.

Doing as he was told Joseph turned to his left to find a label in flashing red bold letters that said, Devil drenchers- to set your breath alight!

Before Joseph got the chance to respond Steven interrupted him, "if you had the common sense to read the label before scoffing sweets into that mindless mouth of yours, you would have known about the scorching consequences."

Joseph sighed as he listened to Stevens sarcastic comment, he then walked away with his head hanging in shame.

Meanwhile, Claudia who had distanced herself from the others was currently eating a yellow luminous lollipop which made her whole mouth glow. But unlike the others she did not display her joy over the various candies, instead, she lifelessly stood and stared at the others with a serious look on her face. Eyebrows firm, her brown eyes suddenly darker than before and her arms folded as if she was trapped deep inside her thoughts.

Claudia then turned her head to look at the Fox brothers. Joseph who had taken the spicy sweet well over five minutes ago was still desperately flapping his hands near his mouth to get rid of the remains of the pain. While Steven stood near a machine, taking no interest in it whatsoever.

Claudia narrowed her eyes at the bored blue haired boy before turning to focus her attention elsewhere.

That attention was then set on Eleanor and her aunt who had got back with each other to talk about their experience with the candy they had just tried.

"You should have tried some Auntie it was amazing, I can hardly wait to try even more as everything here is so magical!" was all Claudia heard of their conversation.

Claudia let out a deep breath as her facial features softened at just how much glee was displayed in that single sentence.

However her tender moment was soon lost as she felt herself being elbowed by Sonya as if to silently say, don't get fixated. You must stick with the plan and make a decision.

Claudia sighed before determinedly nodding her head in agreement.

And it wasn't long before Charlie had called for everyone to gather around him, announcing that it was time to move along. Gesturing for the guest to follow him down another corridor, Claudia took one last glance at the devious delights room before making her way to catch up with the others.


	12. Stumbling towards the deep end

"Come on Claudia, you don't want to miss anything!" Eleanor called out just as the group were walking to their next destination, taking Claudia's arm so she and Eleanor could walk around the factory linking arms.

Charlie smiled at the two girls blossoming friendship.

Steven and his brother were right behind the chocolatier, walking far away from each other as possible. Joseph was in front happily humming to himself while Steven walked behind him, rolling his eyes and huffing at his brother's childish excitement.

As the two younger girls walked relatively close to their guardians, Fiona turned to look at Sonya with a smile," so are you finding the tour interesting?" Fiona kindly asked.

When she didn't get a response Fiona tried to get Sonya's attention by calling out her name in case she hadn't heard her. But when she was greeted to yet another long silence, Fiona made the decision to tap her on the shoulder.

However, her decision did not go down well with Sonya as she quickly turned on Fiona, forcefully pushing her to the ground as she yelled out a loud "no!"

The sudden commotion had caused Claudia to rip away from Eleanor's arm, trying hard to conceal her anger towards Fiona.

Soon enough everyone else had gathered round to where Fiona was still lying on the floor, groaning in pain.

"What's going on!" Charlie shouted, pushing past Steven to see what had happened.

"Auntie, why are you on the floor?" Eleanor wearily asked a few moments later, shocked at what she saw.

Fiona struggled to talk due to the impact of the incident. "I was merely asking Sonya a question…. And s-she pushed me." Once Fiona had explained, Eleanor and Charlie both assisted in helping her get back up on her feet.

Everyone's eyes soon shifted to Claudia and her mother.

"She doesn't like to be touched," Claudia explained before turning to her mother to ask if she was alright.

"Right let's just move on and keep our distance from each other, okay?" Charlie suggested which no one objected to.

"Come along then, there's still loads more to see," Charlie said in a more happier tone of voice.

Once everyone had begun to follow Charlie Eleanor was about to go over to Claudia to apologize but Fiona grabbed her arm to stop her.

"I think we should give them some space, like Charlie said," Fiona said, sighing when seeing Eleanor's sad reaction.

Eleanor silently nodded her agreement just before giving Claudia and her mother a guilty look, which they did not see.

Eleanor's mind was soon distracted from the incident as Charlie stopped at a door, with huge rainbow letters that read, The magnificent maze!

"The magnificent maze, what's that dude?" Joseph asked the chocolatier, who was about to give him an answer until Steven sharply interrupted.

"Let me think, it may be a maze that pretends to be such an exaggerated word like magnificent…"

Steven stood in a mock thinking position before snappily saying, "it's a maze you fool!"

"Don't insult me bro" Joseph sadly mumbled, looking down at his feet in embarrassment.

"It's not an insult, I'm just describing you," Steven added seconds later, leaving Joseph stuck in an awkward silence, finding it difficult to come up with a good comeback.

Hoping to put an end to this pointless interruption Charlie soon stepped in.

"As explained by Steven it is indeed a maze, but it's a maze where even the dead ends hold surprises!"

With that Charlie opened the door to reveal a long bendy maze-like passage, each corner that resembled a dead-end led to a door but these doors had no labels.

"How are you meant to know which your room you're going into if there are no labels?" Steven questioned as soon as everyone had looked around.

"You don't, that's the point," Charlie replied.

Charlie then turned to look at the three kids before focusing his attention on Eleanor.

"Eleanor would you like to pick a door?" the chocolatier asked, earning himself a wide grin in response.

"Yes please!" Eleanor exclaimed as she thought about which door she wanted to pick.

"I chose that one Mr. Bucket," Eleanor said, pointing at a door towards her left.

"On we go then" Charlie replied before leading everyone to Eleanor's chosen door.

Once everyone had walked over to the door Charlie was quick to open it, letting out a small smile when seeing the guests reactions.

"It- it's incredible" Fiona stated just as Charlie leads the guests into the room.

The room resembled a jungle like appearance, decorated from top to bottom with red and yellow ropes hanging off of tall green trees. Surrounded by thick bushes and various types of wild animals including birds flying around, insects and reptiles scattered across the room. All the guests could do was stare at the scene in front of their very eyes.

Some even pinched themselves in case they were dreaming.

"Now this people is my latest addition to the factory, the jungle room! These ropes you see over there are the fizzy rhubarb and custard ropes which I specifically designed for this room." Charlie explained, lifting the rope with his fingers so everyone could have a good look.

"The fizz is to make sure the ropes go as high as possible for when someone swings on them!" Charlie happily added, his smile turning into a grin when seeing Eleanor's reaction.

Before Charlie could carry on, a sudden squeaking noise filled the atmosphere as a large light brown bird swept through the air, slightly hitting Claudia with its wing as the bird made its landing near Steven's foot.

"That's a very big bird Mr. Bucket" Claudia stated, even if it didn't fascinate her that much.

"Oh yes and the biggest of it's kind too, it's called the Banoffee bird" Charlie proudly introduced, the bird bowing its head straight after the introduction.

Eleanor then looked up at the bird, enjoying the banoffee pie scent it gave off.

"Now since I think I've got everything covered, does anyone have any questions?" Charlie asked, looking around the room as he spoke.

"Er, are all the animals friendly?" Eleanor asked while shyly putting her hand up, Charlie smiled in response.

"Of course they are, and what's even more remarkable is that you can actually ride on this bird" Charlie replied reassuringly, earning an excited grin from Eleanor.

Satisfied that he had explained everything he needed to Charlie took a confident breath before saying, "right people I think I'll let you have a couple of minutes to explore before moving along, is that alright with everyone?"

Each guest nodded before being dismissed by the chocolatier.

The bird which had been standing in the same position since it's introduction soon caught the eyes of both Joseph and Eleanor. Just as Eleanor had gotten close enough to get on the bird she was shoved aside as Joseph claimed his victory.

"Make way squirt" was all Joseph had to say before telling the bird to fly, leaving Eleanor confused and disappointed.

"It's as if you've never seen a bird before" Steven mumbled just as his brother had left.

Having noticed Eleanor's sadness Fiona soon found something to distract her as she pointed out that no one was using the ropes. Eleanor took the newly given opportunity to explore, already dashing towards them. She then grabbed hold of one of the ropes and gleefully giggled as she found herself swinging back and forth at a high distance while doing backflips in between, at quite a fast speed.

Fiona found a bench conveniently next to the trees with the ropes, softly sighing Fiona leaned back and enjoyed the view of Eleanor having fun.

Not too far away Steven had walked over to the nearest tree which gave off a peppermint scent, he then heard a small roar coming from the top of the tree. Looking up he saw a little jelly like jaguar staring at him as if it wanted to play.

Steven didn't respond as he was soon distracted from the view of his older brother, flying through the air, standing on the birds back while shouting out, "I'm Mario the invincible!" Steven facepalmed himself, shaking his head in shame.

Claudia who had wandered off further into the jungle discovered a fudge hammock hanging on on a thick branch of one of many trees, taking a moment to get on the hammock Claudia soon found herself drifting off into relaxation.

Sonya came to join her daughter a few seconds later, looking up at her before diverting her gaze onto the floor.

Claudia could only look towards her as she then heard the chocolatier calling for everyone to come back to where he was, announcing that it was time to move on.

Joseph who was still flying around on the bird suddenly felt a few stones being thrown at him, causing the bird to jump which made Joseph fall off it with a loud thud from where he landed.

"Why bro?" Joseph feebly asked, looking up at Steven when having figured out that he was behind the stone-throwing.

"It's time to leave" Steven briefly answered before dragging his brother to join the others.

"Are we all present and correct?" Charlie asked once everyone had returned, "good on we go!"

Once everyone had left the room it was up to Claudia to chose the next room. Picking a door that was behind the group, all the guests had to take a few twists and turns before reaching Claudia's chosen room.

The guests didn't have to wait long for Charlie to lead them inside, this time the room was surrounded by all different types of chewing gum neatly displayed inside various glass cabinets.

Claudia made an extra effort to act happy about her choice of room.

"Now this is my glorious gum room, there are over fifty types of chewing gum currently on display here." Charlie happily explained.

The chocolatier then went over to one of many glass cabinets and pulled out two pieces of gum, one was white and the other was a brown color.

Holding up the white gum first Charlie smiled as he said, "this is just one of many three-course meal chewing gums I make."

There was a mixture of intrigued and disgusted reactions soon after Charlie spoke.

"Why would anyone want that?" Steven sharply interrupted, glaring at Charlie as he clearly didn't share the chocolatiers enthusiasm.

"As I was saying this piece of gum is a three-course meal all by itself and it fills you up, for example, this one happens to be garlic bread, shepherd's pie, and apple crumble." Charlie carried on, ignoring the blue haired boy's question.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Eleanor cheerfully exclaimed.

Charlie smiled at her as he then held up the brown colored gum. "Or if you feeling more naughty this one contains nachos, fish and chips and chocolate gateau which gives it it's brown color."

The chocolatiers smile continued to grow when seeing the astonishment shown by Eleanor and Fiona.

All of a sudden Eleanor's attention turned to one piece of chewing gum which was in a separate small glass case with the words work in progress, DO NOT TOUCH written on it.

"Ah well, this piece of gum has been a special case of ours for quite some time," Charlie said a few moments after noticing Eleanor's curious gaze.

"What's wrong with it?" Eleanor asked, eager to know all about it.

Charlie cleared his throat. "Well, this particular chewing gum is tomato soup, roast beef and blueberry pie with ice cream, however as great as it sounds there is a major defect when it comes to the dessert, which turns whoever tries it into a ten-foot tall blueberry. And to this day we still have no idea what it is that's going wrong inside the gum nor how to fix it."

Eleanor silently nodded her head in response.

"I would let you lot explore this room, but since I cannot allow you to touch anything I think it's best we move along," Charlie said, gesturing for the guests to leave the room.

While most of the guests obeyed Charlie's instructions Eleanor remained standing inside for a few extra seconds, slowly opening the case which had the defective gum inside. Giving it a quick squeeze she found a sudden gush of blueberry juice squirt out into the palm of her hand, staring for a single second as she watched the juice trickle down all the way onto her arm. She then quickly placed it in her pocket, wiping her hand on the inside of her sleeve before running to catch up with the others.

"Now people, it would be my honor to show you a room of my choice" Charlie informed once Eleanor had joined the rest of the group, earning a mixture of excited and dull reactions.

Taking everyone's silence as a yes Charlie soon lead them to the room of his choice, again this room had no label but a few muffled noises could be heard from inside.

"Whats with all the noise dude?" Joseph asked, raising an eyebrow at the suspicious sounds.

"Brace yourself" was all Charlie said in response as he opened the door with a grin on his face.

For the first time in ages all the guest's eyes widened in awe as they were greeted to the view of many animals walking around the room, some guests even had their mouths wide open from the impact of the scene.

The guest remained silent as Charlie welcomed them into the room, now fully embracing the groups of animals who were now staring at them with friendly eyes.

"This my dear guests is the animal's room, where all the animals are edible but don't worry they won't feel a thing!" Charlie explained in a proud manner.

"Mr. Bucket how many species of animals do you have here?" Fiona asked, keen to get an answer from the chocolatier.

"Well in this room there are about thirty different kinds of animals, each with their own individual flavor" Charlie replied.

"Like what?" Steven impatiently blurted out.

Muttering something under his breath Charlie managed to bring himself to explain.

"For instance, we have the dolly mix dogs, the pineapple and pear parrots, the licorice ladybirds, the raspberry rabbits, the snozberry slime snakes-"

"A snozberry? Are you just making up flavors because your 'creativity' has finally gone past its sell-by date?" Steven bitterly questioned, imitating air quotation marks when saying the word creativity.

"I doubt that snozberries even exists" Steen muttered soon afterward.

Charlie frowned, "oh you should never doubt what nobody is sure about."

Steven raised a confused eyebrow in response to the chocolatiers weird answer.

"Oh and we mustn't forget the coffee crocodiles, the milky mice, and I should mention those cute cocoa cats!"

Eleanor's eyes lit up when hearing about the cats, instantly reminding her of Pablo and Patch back at home.

"Aww, they are so adorable!" Eleanor exclaimed happily, just about managing to stop herself from losing control and petting them without the chocolatiers permission.

Smiling to himself the chocolatier then said, "they sure are, and the best thing about them and all the other animals is that they resemble all the features of their non-candy species" Charlie explained in a relaxed tone, a little smile appearing from the corner of his lips as he watched the guests reactions.

But not all of them were positive.

Eleanor's facial expression in particular dramatically transformed from one of astonishment to one of distress.

"They're not made of real cats are they?" Eleanor shrieked, fear clearly marking her facial features.

Before Charlie got a chance to calm her down Steven decided to interrupt once again.

"Look it's obvious they have been genetically modified to look, sound and behave like cat. Animal testing wouldn't be allowed in a crummy factory like this, any thicko knows that!" Steven snapped, rolling his eyes at Eleanor's shock.

Fiona gave her niece a comforting pat on the shoulder, silently telling her to ignore Stevens's nasty words.

At this point, the chocolatier decided to step in.

"Anyway, that's enough rambling on so let's skip to the enjoying ourselves part!" Charlie exclaimed as he gestured for the guests to split up and investigate the animals.

As usual, Eleanor and her aunt were the first ones to decide where to go first as they chose to see the cocoa cats.

"Hello, little puss," Eleanor said quietly as she tried not to frighten the cat, who only a few moments later rubbed its head against Eleanor's hand, softly purring.

"I think it likes you" Fiona gently stated as the cat she was with put two paws on her legs, it's face right in hers so that Fiona could hear it purr right in her ear.

As Eleanor continued to give the cats some fuss, out of the corner of her eye she could vaguely see Sonya keeping herself as far away from the animals as possible.

Eleanor couldn't help but let out a small gasp when seeing a parrot approach Sonya, only to be angrily swatted away with her gloved hand. The parrot then flew back to the others, with a look of terror as Sonya started to fold her arms as if to hide them.

"Auntie, why does Sonya cover herself up?" Eleanor whispered, glancing over to Sonya who did not see.

"I haven't got a clue, buts it's not polite to stare" Fiona whispered back. Eleanor instantly took her eyes off of Sonya when realizing she had been staring at her.

Going back to stroking the cocoa cats she hadn't realized that she had also been watched.

* * *

**Claudia's POV**

As I gave the room a quick scan, the opportunity to get part three of my plan done and dusted couldn't have come quicker.

However, I must say that during these past forty minutes, I have made the sudden realization that even the nicest of people have their flaws.

You see I am usually quick to figure out the pros and cons to a person, but this is something I should have seen a mile off.

Curiosity. That one word that should have made it's way through to my mind a lot sooner. It's practically obvious who I am referring to when I say this.

Eleanor Mai, the one whose kindness and curiosity are her friends, but are also the same qualities that can become her foes when placed in the wrong hands.

An example being that I caught her staring at my mother, whispering things to her aunt about her. If she was to be the last kid standing in between me and claiming the prize I could only see it leading to disaster. It starts off with her asking more questions, figuring me out, telling the others her newfound realizations, ending with my entire plan falling apart right in front of me. Which is why I can no longer afford to keep up this friendship.

So without further ado, I manage to come up with the purrfect plan to put an end to this rather worrying theory.

First things first I had to get the full view of my next subject, who had now been left on her own as Fiona had left to visit the milky mice.

Once I got that covered I then had to yet again come up with a distraction, which is harder now there are fewer people around, meaning that I have to be extra careful not to give myself away.

As they say, there's nothing wrong with being bad, it's getting caught that does you in.

And it didn't take long for me to get the distraction I needed as Joseph Fox had somehow managed to get himself tangled up in the snozberry slime snakes. This soon caught Charlie's attention as he and most of the others (apart from Steven who looked as if he couldn't give a toss) ran up to Joseph, desperate to rescue him from the snakes as their grip became tighter each minute.

Eleanor was also about to join in with helping to save Joseph, but luckily I managed to get to her first. Gently patting her shoulder I then gestured for her to follow me into the farthest corner of the room, quickly glancing at a long wide tube. While I had no idea where it leads to, it was just the right element for my plan.

This next part I must admit was quite awkward, given the fact that my mother had purposely pushed her auntie over and I hadn't made the effort to speak to her until now.

So I start off what will hopefully be a short conversation with, "look I know I haven't been very friendly for the last half an hour or so, but I just wanted to apologize and make things right."

Eleanor smiled while giving me a look which said all was forgiven. Having successfully earned back her trust it was time for me to move on to the next step.

"But now I must tell you something very important, but you cannot discuss this with Charlie or anyone else," I said with a serious look to show that I mean it, Eleanor gave me a silent nod of agreement in response, a look of curiosity forming on her facial features.

Now it was time to turn things up a notch.

"There's no easy way to say this but when you inquired about the cats being made with real cats, I'm sad to say that Charlie lied to you." This was all I needed to earn a disturbed but questioning look from Eleanor.

Now for the big reveal.

"While I was exploring the room I heard noises coming from this tube right here," I say as I saw Eleanor starting to shake in fear of what else I had to say.

"It wasn't easy but it took a few minutes to figure out that these noises were ones that a cat makes."

I had to imitate a small meowing sound which echoed from inside the tube, I was pretty impressed with my skills.

What made it better was seeing Eleanor's distraught reaction, which almost made me grin with delight, but now wasn't the appropriate time.

She hesitated before finally speaking. "C-Claudia do you think... T-that they k-kill those cats…?

I shrug before replying with, "who can say" in the most sorrowful voice I could manage.

Eleanor then looked as if she was about to scream and cry at the same time, as she gasped in horror of what I had just told her.

"Just take a few deep breathes," I tell her, and luckily for me, she did as I told her. Besides I can't have the whole room knowing about our 'discovery'.

"Do you think we could do something to save them?" I hear Eleanor squeak out, even though I could tell she was still in the process of absorbing all the horrifying information.

"I don't see why not," I said in agreement. (I know it seems foolish but it all makes sense in the end.)

"But the question is how can we do it?" Eleanor asks quietly, looking at me for an urgent answer.

"Well, we have to come up with a plan and quickly otherwise..." I didn't need to say anymore as Eleanor had already begun plotting something in her head, a few moments later she was bursting to get her idea into action.

But little did she know I had my own.

So as I let her explain her plan I tried to see how it could work along with mine. Once Eleanor had finished telling me I decided to give her some constructive feedback.

"We need to be more clever than that, I mean if someone sees us we will both be questioned and that wouldn't look good. Was all I said which Eleanor understood.

So I then say, "instead of why don't we be a bit more technical about it." Eleanor didn't seem to get what I meant, but she soon would…

To be on the safe side, I take another look around to see the others still struggling to get the snakes to loosen their grips on Joseph.

Now that I'm certain no one was watching it was time for the grand finale.

"We need to go down one at a time" I whisper. And before Eleanor could question my motives I then add, "maybe it's best if you go first, besides you hold a lot more knowledge of cats than I do.

"Yeah" Eleanor agreed quietly as she began to prepare herself to save the 'cats'.

I too was preparing for a big moment, her big moment.

But as usual, it has to take longer than I intended as Eleanor suddenly tells me she has doubts.

All I said in the most remorseful voice I could manage was, "Eleanor those animals right now are pleading for someone to save them after all, those innocent animals are unable to speak out from abuse, but we can speak for them."

Now that smashed anymore doubts out of Eleanor's mind.

Just as she was about to go down on her own accord she stopped for the second time before saying her glasses needed cleaning. So by this time I usually would have lost my temper, but now I think about it why waste a perfect opportunity to speed things up a bit.

All of a sudden I accidently bump into Eleanor as she was trying to spot where the speck of dirt was, instantly knocking her glasses onto the floor near my foot. Soon afterward she was scrambling around for them, unaware of me bending down to get them.

"Don't worry I got them," I say before kicking them as far away as my leg would let me, luckily they weren't in viewing distance.

"Let's go over here," I tell Eleanor, taking her arm and leading her closer to the tube.

"My- my glasses" she wearily states, still fumbling for them even though they were nowhere near her.

"Let me clean them for you" I kindly offer as I look to my right to make sure no one was secretly witnessing what I was about to do.

As her feet got that little bit closer to the edge, she began to get suspicious of whether I did have her glasses or not.

And then the moment I had been longing for finally came!

My last words towards that girl were "I'll see you at the bottom" before I happily pushed her down the tube, making no effort to hide an amused grin as I watched her stumble into the tube, helplessly sliding down to her destiny.

I then made a dash for it when Eleanor started screaming ,until she could no longer be heard.

Just as I had managed to rush over to the Dolly mix dogs, the terrified shouting from Fiona suddenly filled the atmosphere as she frantically called for her soon after hearing her nieces screams.

"Eleanor, Eleanor Mai where are you, my dear?!" Fiona continued to shout, getting more panicked by the second. Soon enough Charlie and the Fox brothers were also calling her name, hoping that she would respond.

I decided that now was the time to find Eleanor's glasses and place them at the scene of the crime.

I had to run pretty quickly to be able to pull this off, which I managed to do. Seems like running can be a benefit in the long run.

After a few more calls for Eleanor, I made my way towards the chocolatier, silently pointing towards the entrance to the tube where her glasses had been messily placed.

Once everyone had gathered around the same spot as me, the only words that came out from my mouth were, "I think I've found the rather unpleasant answer to your calls."

For a pure minute, the whole room had been silent. That was until Steven dared to break it.

"Looks like she took quite the stumble towards the deep end there" Steven commented, giving me a weird look.

"That's a long way down dude" Joseph added, not helping the situation whatsoever.

"But I don't understand, why she would want to go down there" Fiona whispered, shock clear in her tone of voice that took Stevens gaze right off me.

"I - I honestly don't know what to say at this point" Charlie whispered to himself, me being the only one able to hear him.

Fiona did look at me for a split second before turning to Charlie, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Mr. Bucket, please tell me where that tube goes" Fiona cried.

Charlie sadly sighed as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "That tube goes directly to the old sneezes and smells room, I shall send two of the Oompa Loompas down there immediately to rescue her."

Charlies announcement was soon recognized with respect as the two Oompa Loompas emerged into the room, instantly getting to work on their quest to retrieve Eleanor.

"Maybe I should come too" Fiona offered in a slightly more stable voice than before. She then received a tug at her floral skirt, not that she needed one as an Oompa Loompa carefully placed her into a seated position.

"Are you certain my niece will be alright?" Fiona asked, her arms heavily shaking from the impact of the sudden turn of events.

"You have my word that she will be completely unharmed," Charlie reassured with a small smile before Fiona and the two Oompa Loompas disappeared down the tube.

Charlie was left with a sad stricken facial expression for a few seconds, it almost made me feel bad.

He soon snapped out of it when realizing that me and Steven were the only kids left, as well as our chosen guardians.

"Come one, we still have lots to see," Charlie said in a happier tone, but I could tell it was forced.

As our group of four were being led towards what looked like a dead end. I turned to look back at the crime scene one last time, until one of the dolly mix dogs quietly growled as I left the room.

I glared at it before returning my focus on what was ahead of me.

Although I'm proud that I had once again managed to pull off another stage of my plan, an unusual twisting sensation began to form inside my stomach as I'm now one step closer to achieving my main priority.

Eleanor may not have been demanding, self-centered or unbearably harsh, but not even her unlimited amount of kindness and good will could help her.

As for her curiosity, that certainly didn't do her any favors.

_Because as they say, curiosity killed the cat._


	13. Of conclusions and challenges

It had only taken a few seconds before Fiona and the two Oompa Loompas had made it into the old sneezes and smells room.

As soon as she managed to get up, Fiona was desperately trying not to gag as the unpleasantly strong odors of rotten eggs, old sneezes, poo and what could have been raw fish filled her nose.

Spluttering slightly Fiona begun to call for Eleanor, getting more panicked each time she didn't respond.

Having seen her increased distress one of the two Oompa Loompas tugged at her skirt. "You must remain calm," he told her.

Fiona took a deep breathe while stammering out a sentence of, "yes you're quite right."

They then continued to search for Eleanor, that was until a faint banging sound was heard from the left-hand corner of the room.

"What was that?" Fiona whispered to one of the Oompa Loompas.

"I don't know" was the Oompa Loompas response, while the other one tried to figure out what was happening to make that noise.

"Shh!" said the Oompa Loompa who had been trying to locate the cause of the banging noise as the same noise echoed around the room a second time, followed by a groaning sound.

"Eleanor?" Fiona questioned, her eyes widening when her exclamation was met with another groan.

"This way!" the Oompa Loompas said as they directed her to where they were now certain the noise was being made. Soon enough they were proven correct as they were greeted to the sights of Eleanor, struggling to find her way out from the piles of various bits and pieces.

"Eleanor!" Fiona exclaimed which soon earned her a wide-eyed response from her nice.

"Auntie!" she shouted, wrapping her arms around her neck as she rushed towards her.

They stayed in their hugging position for a few seconds until Fiona broke the hug with a stern facial expression.

"Eleanor, how on earth did you get down here?" Fiona asked, sighing when taking a look at her niece's guilt-ridden facial expression.

Eleanor hesitated before explaining herself.

"I- I was fussing the cats and then Claudia asked me to come over, saying that she wanted to talk to me."

Fiona raised a questioning eyebrow. "What did she want?" Fiona asked a few seconds later.

Eleanor sighed in shame. "She told me that Charlie had lied about not using real cats to make the cocoa cats, she also said that she could hear them meowing from down here."

"Ok. Tell me more." Fiona said, wanting to get as much information out of her niece as she could.

Letting out a sad sigh Eleanor continued to talk.

"She said that me and her could go down and save them together, but then I lost my glasses which lead to me being pushed down here!" Eleanor cried, a few tears escaping from her eyes.

"Aww, sweetheart" Fiona cooed as she let her stern facial expression transform into one of sympathy. She then embraced her niece into another longer hug, letting Eleanor cry into her shoulder.

"I can't believe it, auntie!" Eleanor sobbed, "I was really enjoying the tour, but then this had to happen!"

"Shhh! Don't cry, you're alright now. That's the main thing." Fiona reassured, struggling to keep her own voice at a steady level.

"I still can't believe I caused an incident today!" Eleanor replied, her voice still shaky.

One of the two Oompa Loompas scared his head as if a thought had just popped into his head.

"Although you aren't the only one to suffer some kind of incident today." An Oompa Loompa suddenly stated, which made a few thoughts come to mind.

"Oh yes, that's right! Mandy ended up sinking into a sticky toffee puddle and Fernando expanded into a five-foot tall ball of gas!" Fiona said, realization hitting her like a runaway train.

"Auntie?" Eleanor asked, unsure of what was going on.

"Eleanor," an Oompa Loompa said in a questioning tone. "What exactly happened when you and Claudia were together just before your fall?"

Eleanor took a few minutes to gather up her memories. "Er, well I remember Claudia telling me that I should go down first, I then lose my glasses which Claudia said she had in her hand. When I tried to get them back she said she was putting them on for me and…" Eleanor trailed off as she couldn't bare to finish off her sentence.

Not that she needed too.

"I see," the Oompa Loompa said soon afterward before adding, "Eleanor I don't think that you fell, I believe you were pushed."

"By Claudia," Fiona added, her voice now going back to a more serious tone.

"But why? I thought our friendship was going rather well?" Eleanor asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"That was probably just to fool you to get you to trust her" Fiona replied.

"Besides, I believe she's also responsible for what happened to the other two." Both of the Oompa Loompas added in unison.

"What a vile girl, and to think I thought that Mandy was a brat! But Claudia, she's the worst of them all!" Fiona exclaimed in horror.

"My thoughts exactly Mrs. Mai! Now we must think carefully as we shall need to expose her to Charlie, show him her true colors." An Oompa Loompa instructed.

"But how?" Fiona inquired.

"Well we must find out where Charlie is planning to take the remaining guests next, then we need to get to them before she causes any more chaos."

"But first we need to know how much time we have to inform Charlie" the other Oompa Loompa stated, earning nods of agreement from the two females and the other Oompa Loompa.

"Well there's only herself and that Steven kid now" Fiona answered.

"Will he be her next target?" Eleanor asked, fear filling her facial features.

"I believe so" Fiona responded.

"Well, then there isn't a moment to lose. We must find Charlie and the others before it's too late!" The Oompa Loompas said before guiding Fiona and Eleanor towards a purple colored car, with the Wonka logo on the front of it.

"We must get a move on," the Oompa Loompas said as one of them proceeded in driving the car.

"That Claudia has a lot to answer for" Fiona whispered to Eleanor who sighed in agreement as they went to look for Charlie and the others.

* * *

"Come along everyone, I have something to show you!" Charlie said, gesturing for the four remaining guest to watch what he was about to do.

Looking towards their right they saw a large silver button which the chocolatier wasn't afraid to press.

As soon as he pressed an elevator appeared at the speed of a flash. All noticing how this particular elevator was made completely out of glass.

"People this is the glass elevator, it is the most efficient way to get around the factory" Charlie happily explained before leading the guests to make their way inside.

Once they had all gotten themselves in Steven looked up at the chocolatier to give him a disbelieving frown.

"That can't be possible, surely this thing will smash into a million pieces as soon as you press a button," Steven said, his green eyes piercing into Charlie's faded blue ones.

"Actually this elevator has been constructed specifically for the use of people and Oompa Loompas to travel in" Charlie replied, letting a smug smile escape from his lips.

"Anyway this is no bog-standard elevator you know. You can go up, down, left, right, sideways, slantways and any other ways you can imagine."

"You only have to press a button, then whoosh you're off!" Charlie shouted, pressing a random button which caused everyone to lean to their right as the elevator zoomed to the left.

As the elevator began to swiftly move, Claudia gave Steven a quick glance before turning to give one to her mother, as if she was silently saying,

_Now it's time for the biggest challenge of all._

_Steven Fox._


	14. Flying high for some

"Mr. Bucket, where are you taking us?" Claudia asks as the elevator begins to move away from the animal room.

Charlie looked over towards her with a smile. "Ah, well there is more than one destination were heading too" was all the chocolatier said as a reply.

Claudia smiled at the chocolatier before turning to Steven, who was quick to catch her glaring at him.

Steven then took a look between Charlie and his brother, who was currently being entertained by the large amounts of buttons to press on his right-hand side. The blue haired boy then leaned into Claudia's ear as he sharply whispered,

"You don't fool me you know."

Claudia gave him the best fake smile she could before responding with an innocent question of, "what do you mean?"

Steven rolled his eyes at her answer. "You know full well what I'm on about, so drop the innocent act."

"I really don't know what you mean" Claudia replied in the same tone of voice, irritating the blue haired boy more.

"Look, missy, I'm not stupid or deluded like the other three, unlike them I know what you're up to and trust me I refuse to be a victim of one of your little games," Steven growled, showing that he meant business.

Claudia only gave him a look which said, oh really?

But before either one of them could say anything else, Charlie grabbed everyone's attention as he happily blurted out, "Everyone, I take great pleasure in introducing you to Vimto volcano!"

Joseph, Claudia, and Sonya all wore faces of shock as their eyes feasted on the sights of the volcano spilling out long rows of unusually hot Vimto, that poured itself straight into loads of large barrels which the Oompa Loompas dressed in what appeared to be biohazard suits drove away in huge trucks.

"I don't get it. What's so special about this Vimto that requires it to be made by volcano?" Steven grumbled, which the chocolatier had no problems in hearing.

"Well, this kind of Vimto has to be made by volcano as it's the only way it can be done to the highest standards. The reason being is because it goes down to where we make a special kind of Vimto drink, where whoever drinks it will receive a good old kick to start off their day, whether it's from the smell or the taste. This drink is mostly for those who have trouble waking up in time for work in the morning, or for those lazy sods who refuse to get up for school."

"But why do the Oompa Loompas wear masks when handling the Vimto?" Claudia asked, pointing at two Oompa Loompas who were busy loading up another truck.

Charlie smiled as if he had hoped someone would ask.

"The Oompa Loompas have to wear masks so they don't breath in the strong fumes the Vimto gives off when they first get their hands on it. That is what causes the Vimto to have such an instant effect on the person it comes into contact with." Charlie explained, earning a smile from Claudia.

Steven scoffed in disbelief but didn't bother to question the chocolatier.

"So basically you make this drink to be so strong in both flavor and scent, so when someone tries it they jump into action to get away from it, " Claudia said, trying to figure it out.

"Yes, but we do have to tone it down a lot before it can be classed as drinkable." Charlie said before quickly adding, "it won't harm you, it just supplies a shock to your system for a while, it was Mr. Wonkas idea."

Charlie then went silent for a few seconds as the mention of Mr. Wonka brought back more memories. From the look of him, he was torn between deciding if the memories were a pleasure or painful to remember.

Suddenly he was greeted with odd stares from some of the guests. But he was soon able to shake them off as the elevator went through a small tunnel, that revealed the next room they were about to see.

"People, this here is the Lovey dovey licorice room!" Charlie happily said to a mixture of surprised and freaked out looks.

"Oh give me strength" Steven muttered in response.

Soon enough the guests were greeted by the sight of eight Oompa Loompas carefully carving out little licorice shaped hearts, before adding what looked like pink glitter into the middle of the heart which gave it a little sparkle once it was finished.

"Whats with the glitter in the middle dude?" Joseph asked a few seconds after looking at what the Oompa Loompas were doing.

"That pink glitter isn't pink glitter at all. It is a formula which is made to look like glitter, but actually, it's something completely different." Charlie said, which seemed to confuse Joseph rather than answer his question.

Charlie smiled as he began to explain further. "The glitter look alike substance is actually turns itself into a spread which plays a vital part as to how this sweet should be used."

"What does it do exactly?" Claudia asked, who wasn't a hundred percent sure she wanted to know.

Charlie gave her a reassuring smile as he began to speak.

"Well, this little gem right here has been specifically made to help those who are unsure of whether their crush shares the same feelings or not. How this works is the person gives the heart to their crush, and as they take a bit out of it the spread reacts with their inner feelings."

"So how do you know if the person likes them or not?" Claudia inquired, now showing a real interest in how the product worked.

"If the person shares the same feelings they will like the candy and be unable to resist the overwhelming desire to eat the rest, however, if they don't they will get a foul taste in their mouth. Seconds later they will feel the strong urge to spit out the candy meaning that they aren't into you."

Noticing a sudden awkward silence, Charlie wasted no time in breaking the occurrence.

"Although love hearts are the original designs of these sweets, we also do them in star and crescent shapes with the same pink substance inside. It makes it less awkward to give to someone."

"Oh I wouldn't feel awkward giving one to somebody right now," Joseph said in a voice that anyone else but him would find creepy. He then turned to wiggle his eyebrows at Sonya, who Claudia made sure she moved away from as if he was to unexpectedly pounce on her.

Claudia gave him a disgusted look as Joseph winked at her mother, before flicking his tied up jet black hair as he turned round to face the front.

"Ugh good grief, get me a sick bucket" Claudia heard Steven mumble under his breath. A statement that she agreed with.

To escape the heavily awkward vibes the elevator conveniently began to move a little bit faster, directing the group to a room which anyone could have mistaken for a winter wonderland. The room was covered in a pure white substance that was gently falling onto the pile, which a group of at least twenty Oompa Loompas were busy collecting and placing into wheelbarrows. A few of them waved up at Charlie and the four guests before going back to focusing on their work.

"What are they collecting in there?" Claudia asked, looking up at Charlie as she spoke.

"My dear guests please do take a look at my Spearmint snow! This product is made into very tiny sweets for the use of those who suffer from frequent pain, such as for headaches, stomachaches or for any kind of pain for that matter" Charlie replied.

"Can we play in it?" Joseph asked with excitement as he began to jump up and down, that made his younger brother roll his eyes in annoyance.

Charlie sighed. "No as the Spearmint snow on its own would freeze you beyond minus degrees." the chocolatier calmly replied. Joseph's earlier enthusiasm soon turned into disappointment.

Steven shook his head at Joseph, giving him a disapproving look in the process.

Then as if on cue, the elevator began to once again pick up speed as it passed through another tunnel. Leading the group to a different room.

The room the group had just entered was quite a small room, with machines that popped out pea sized round green sweets. These were then put inside medium sized green pods before being sent off onto conveyor belts to be packaged.

"Why do they look like peas man?" Joseph asked, earning himself a loud groan from his brother.

Charlie spoke in a calm manner as he explained that the sweets were supposed to resemble the appearance of peas.

"Then what's the point of making them?" Steven harshly blurted out. Staring at Charlie as if he was a complete idiot.

Although it was obvious the chocolatier was losing his patience with both Fox brothers, he was still able to give them a nicely phrased response.

"Well, the reason why I have designed these popping peas is because peas are one of the most hated vegetables, particularly amongst young children. So what these sweets do is that they create a more appealing taste to a child but they have exactly the same health benefits, great eh?"

Steven only rolled his eyes in response to Charlie's answer, which clearly didn't satisfy him.

All Charlie could do was let out a fed up sigh as the glass elevator continued to take him and the four guests around the factory.

* * *

**Claudia's POV**

Just by looking at him I can tell that I'm going to need to upgrade my game a level or two.

You see unlike the other three children, Stevens not prepared to put himself into an unpleasant situation because he's smart enough to avoid it.

Take what happened around five minutes ago. He was practically accusing me of causing the accidents that happened to the other three kids, (even though he's correct in saying that.) But the crazy and as equally unsettling thing is that believe it or not, were quite similar in regards to the way we think.

For example, we both know how to get under other people's skin. I do it by digging deep into what makes a person tick and the flaws that lie beneath, while he prefers to use his words to express his knowledge.

Until this moment I hadn't noticed how we are both so alike but so different at the same time.

Now that I come to think of it, I'm not sure whether that should impress or freak me out.

However, despite our common grounds, there are as I said differences between us, but that shall be left till later.

Although Steven did have an insight into what I was up to, it didn't stop him from turning his focus from me onto how 'pointless' he found Charlie's products to be. But little does he realize all this adds to my advantage.

So I too ask a few questions here and there, you know just to keep the conversation going on anything apart from me. Throughout this time it gave me a chance to come up with a more clever way to dispose of the fourth and final person in my way of winning.

Not that he wants to win.

His brother, on the other hand, seems to be quite happy about the idea of winning the factory, which I guess is more of a problem than Steven is. In fact, he is more of a problem for me! Especially since he was more or less trying to flirt with my mother. I mean who in their right mind would try and do something so… ugh!

Hang on, right mind?

Then an idea suddenly makes an appearance into my own mind.

Since Steven is always disapproving of his brother no matter if he expresses something verbally or physically, all I have to do in mess with Joseph's head (which to be honest won't take much). Then once an idea gets through to him he won't be able to help himself but share this theory with Steven, which will lead to him to crack and want to prove him wrong!

But the question is, how on earth am I going to be able to pull this off?

Well, luckily I don't have to wonder to myself for too long as I suddenly notice the rows of buttons, with their own individual label of what each room is. As I take the time to scan each button to get a good idea of which rooms would work and those that wouldn't, I suddenly find myself turning to look at the older Fox brother who continued to get on Charlie Buckets nerves.

I then briefly look at Steven who wore that all too familiar bored facial expression. The only way he had of entertaining himself on the tiniest scale was to look at the view from the glass elevator.

However, as I went back to looking at the buttons were all suddenly greeted to a shock as we felt the glass elevator pull itself down at a rather uncomfortable speed. We were all desperately clinging onto whatever we could find to hold onto, that was until the elevator came to a sudden halt to a room which didn't look that inviting.

Looking around the room all I could see was various products all lined up on these large wooden shelves, some were coated in plastic sheets with labels that read in huge bold writing, **DO NOT TOUCH UNLESS YOU HAVE AUTHORISED PERMISSION!**

The room itself, unlike the others, wasn't decorated with colorful candies, nor were there any Oompa Loompas in sight working as they had been in the previous rooms. To go along with the kind of spooky vibes the room had, it was so quiet that I could hear my own whispering as I told my mom how creepy the room was.

"Where the hell have you taken us?" Steven questioned. Him being the only one willing to ask.

Charlie took a deep breath before telling us that we weren't supposed to have seen this room as it still needed a lot of work, but somehow we had ended up here.

But it didn't take long to find out the cause of this sudden turn of events. It turned out that my mother had leaned too far back onto a button on the far corner, therefore her back triggered the release of it which took us all the way down here.

I mumble a quick apology to Charlie on my mother's behalf so he doesn't suspect anything, which luckily (or stupidly) for him he was more than happy to accept.

Although we may have found the cause of this particular problem, we didn't realize that we had another to come our way.

As soon as Charlie tried to start up the elevator again he soon found that he was unable to because the elevator had run out of fuel, due to the long distance we traveled to get here.

Charlie sighed as he told us what had happened, and until some of the Oompa Loompas were able to get to the darkest part of the factory we were to stay here. But maybe just maybe this room could be the barrier between winning and being found out.

So just to keep everyone's attention focused on the room, I softly ask what this room is going to be used for and to my surprise Charlie's response was certainly interesting.

"Well, this is going to be a room where we fully investigate products that have severe defects with them. Some of these defects could be so dangerous that only the most experienced of Oompa Loompas and myself are allowed to even go near them. But luckily we don't have anything that has that amount of issues as of yet."

"Interesting, " I say in response.

"I doubt that" I heard Steven scoff a few seconds after my reply.

After that, the room was in complete silence, well for nearly at least a minute. It soon came to an end as this time it was the older Fox brothers turn to break the quiet atmosphere.

"So Mr. Bucket what have you got in here dude?" Joseph asked, keen to know what the chocolatier currently had hidden on those shelves.

"We have a selection of items here. For example, we have the earthquake shakes which is a prank drink that makes the person shake as if they were experiencing an earthquake, though the name does kind of give it away. Then over here we have the Laughing Laffy Taffys which at the moment don't seem to laugh at all so I'll be working on them and-"

Charlie was cut off with a sarcastic 'yeah right' from no other than Steven. Typical, there's always one who has to ruin a good moment!

However it wasn't all bad news when Charlie decided to continue explaining what some of his other candies were supposed to do, that was until I had realized that Joseph had disappeared.

What I was about to do was a risk, but I had to do this. So I then set off to explore the room for myself after leaving Charlie with my mother to chat to.

Firstly I look over to where these supposedly Laughing Laffy Taffys were placed, and as Charlie said they didn't make a sound.

I then look towards my left to see Joseph standing near a shelf with these odd looking sweets that Charlie hadn't mentioned earlier.

At that moment I knew that this was most likely going to be my only shot at getting rid of the Fox brothers.

"Those look interesting," I say to him as I walk towards where Joseph was, pointing towards these round bulky white sweets. Causing him to turn around and grin at me as if he was thinking the same thing.

"Oh they do alright" Joseph replied with a mischievous facial expression, which could only mean one thing.

It was show time!

"I reckon these sweets can make you invincible for life." Is what I tell him, even though I didn't really have a clue what they were supposed to be or do. But there's only one way to find out, and the best thing is it won't hurt me one bit.

"Wow!" was the exclaimed response I received just as Charlie and Steven turned towards him. Charlie's facial expression was anything but happy and as for Steven, I'll let you have one guess.

"Joseph, please put that down. I really don't want you touching it!" Charlie shouted with a major amount of concern, dashing towards him just as Joseph had picked up one of the bulky white sweets.

"But I want to know if they will make me invincible!" Joseph whined.

Charlie sighed in frustration. "Look if you must know those are my transformation tablets, but they are nowhere near finished!" Charlie called out, reaching a hand out to snatch the tablets from Joseph's grasp.

The older Fox brothers eyes suddenly widened with excitement as he childishly blurted out, "woah, they're even better than I imagined! I could easily be Mario and take over the world!"

"No you couldn't" Steven snapped soon afterward, glaring at his brother as if he was a naughty four-year-old.

"Yeah I could bro, you're just jealous because you know I'm right!" Joseph chanted, which finally made Steven crack.

Steven loudly grunted. "No. It. Wont. It's just another one of many scams, just like this entire factory!" Steven yelled, viciously pointing towards Charlie as if he was a criminal.

Now all I had to do was watch the drama unfold at its own accord.

Steven glared at the chocolatier as he continued to yell at him. "As if this could hold the power to transform someone into anything they wanted to be, I mean anyone with at least half a brain would know that it's virtually impossible to create something as powerful as that!"

Charlie could only give him a look of defeat as Steven carried on with his rant which showed no signs of ending.

"How low will you go just to gain the interest and publicity of people for your sad products that aren't even that great? Your 'Laughing Laffy taffy's for instance don't laugh because they were never able to."

Charlie sadly sighed as he just let Steven get it out of his system.

"You just don't like to admit your nothing but another one of those bog standard, boring people who can only go as high as claiming to be able to create something the world has never experienced. But in reality, you loathe the fact that you along with the long line of candy makers are forever unable to come up with anything remotely original!"

Looking hurt with his ego rather bruised Charlie was about to retort when Steven forcefully snatched the white sweet from his brother's grasp, he threw it up and down in the air which landed in his hand before turning towards the chocolatier.

"I suppose this will turn me into any animal I want if I close my eyes and wish hard enough" Steven sniggered, showing no remorse for his earlier shouting.

"Please. Don't. You have no idea what that tablet will do to you" Charlie stated, showing real concern for what that tablet had in store.

By this time even Joseph had begun to take a much more serious approach to what was happening.

"Please bro, let's just leave it and go" Joseph calmly suggested. Of course, he went ignored.

"Aw come on Joseph, don't you want to see if I turn into Mario or Justin Beiber?" Steven jeered as he continued to flip the tablet around in the palm of his hand.

"Steven I won't ask you again, put the tablet back." Charlie tried again, which only earned him an eye roll from the blue haired boy.

"Oh dear so now I've exposed you in front of your so-called guests, you now show actual concern for your products and the person who tries them?" Steven teased before hastily adding, "perhaps I should try this just to add to your humiliation."

"No, don't!" Charlie yelled.

Steven let out an evil laugh. "Why are you so worried? After all, it's only an average, normal, bog standard sweet that is probably just a mint with a fancy name."

Unfortunately, before Charlie could do anything to stop him Steven had already placed the tablet in his mouth, sticking his tongue out to show he was actually going to consume it. After he was heard sucking on the tablet for a minute or so he opened his mouth again to show that he had swallowed the remains of the sweet.

"See? Nothing happened at all, told you it was all for show. It's easy to talk the talk, but when it comes to the walk that's when it falls apart my friend" Steven smugly told the chocolatier who looked as if he was about to faint.

But it wasn't long before I could spot why.

As soon as Steven had swallowed the tablet something weird started to appear on his face, the only way I could describe it was he looked as if he was getting older. The very first place it became noticeable was on his nose, it then soon moved over to his cheeks and chin.

"Er, what's happening to his face?" I ask, my voice filled with fake concern which would seem real to anyone who didn't know me too well.

Everyone then turned back to look at Steven, who by now had gained these wrinkles all over his face.

"Steven bro, are y-you getting older?" Joseph stammered as he found himself unable to talk.

Steven rolled his eyes. "No, what are you blabbing on about?!"

"Look at your face man" Joseph whimpered while gesturing for Steven to go over and look at himself through the glass elevator, that showed no guilt in displaying the harsh reality of what was happening to him.

Steven's usually unfazed facial expression soon turned into one of pure shock as he screamed out a painful sentence of, "what is happening to me?!"

By this time his face had become severely decorated with huge wrinkles as if he was an elderly person, but that wasn't the case as not many elderly people developed a short stubby tail when going through the aging process.

"Right everyone stand back, this process isn't pretty!" Charlie warned just as Steven had begun to gag.

Once we had all stepped back Steven's gagging had become increasingly louder as his body began to slowly lean forward, exposing his back as the huge wrinkles had now spread amongst his entire body. He was then forcefully dragged onto his hands and feet which also changed into wrinkly pale pink colored paws. After that his whole body became smaller and smaller just as his nose became bigger, causing the roof of his mouth to become uneven that left him with pointy teeth that painfully stuck out of his mouth like beavers. Steven was barely able to speak throughout the whole transformation despite his best efforts to squeak out a few words.

During this time a strange sound was being made from the right-hand side of the room. It wasn't until I turned towards that direction was when I realized that the Laughing Laffy taffy's were indeed laughing at Stevens demise.

Ok, I do admit that was quite amusing.

However, when the transformation was complete the horribly wrinkly animal that was now Steven Fox began to approach his brother, who fearfully ran from him to the furthest corner he could find.

"Steven bro?" Joseph asked wearily, having been unable to look at him since the start of the commotion.

"Yes that's still my name, don't wear it out" Steven answered in the same snotty tone, but his voice was now more crackled then before.

"What even is he now?" I ask in disgust. Pointing towards the revolting, repulsive animal which stood with his hoodie still covering a decent amount of his body.

"He is what's called a naked mole rat." This was all Charlie could say just as four Oompa Loompas had arrived at the scene, some wincing while others looked emotionless.

"Thank goodness your here!" Charlie exclaimed before quickly adding, "could you please take Steven over to the reversing room immediately. We need to get him back to normal before he stays like this permanently!"

"Permanently?!" Joseph shrieked. His eyes having gone wide and his breathing heavier.

"The issue wasn't only that the tablet turns you into a naked mole rat, it can also make you stay like that if the person has been that way for over twenty minutes" Charlie explained to a panicked Joseph.

Trying his best to ignore the chocolatier Steven the mole rat then walked up to his brother, who screamed as he whispered a pleaful "please don't hurt me," while huddled up against the wall.

"Baby" Steven muttered in the same crackly voice, just as one of the four Oompa Loompas picked him up.

"Oi, what do you think you're doing. Get your hands off me!" Steven shouted while trying to kick at the Oompa Loompa, before realizing his feet were too short to be able to escape from the Oompa Loompas grasp.

Once they had convinced Joseph to come with them to get Steven back to normal, I found to my happiness and great pleasure that it was only me and my mother still left standing with the one and only Charlie Bucket.

"I know it's bad for me to say this, but I guess this makes me the winner" I declare as gently as I possibly could.

"Yes, I suppose it does" is all Charlie can say which wasn't what I was hoping for. However, it wasn't a no so I'm not going to argue.

So once the other two from the previous group of four Oompa Loompas managed to quickly recharge the glass elevator we are gently lifted up from the ground, happy to be moving away from the disaster area.

As we were moving I look down at the room one last time, in honor of Steven.

You see Steven was smart. But not smart enough to beat me!

The reason why I managed to beat him was purely because once he let one thought overpower his mind, all the others got pushed to the very back of it. Hence why I didn't get the slightest mention in his rant.

Seems like his disbelief of Charlie's capabilities caused his rather abrupt end.

Besides you should never doubt what nobody is sure about, any thicko knows that.

_So while Steven's at rock bottom, I for one am flying high!_


	15. Crashing back down to reality

"We're too late" an Oompa Loompa sadly stated as they approached the room Charlie and the Smith family had just left.

Eleanor and Fiona sighed as they too were disappointed in what they had just witnessed.

Eleanor then looked up at her aunt with a questioning look. "Will Steven be okay?"

"Only time will tell Miss Mai" the other Oompa Loompa responded in the same sad tone of voice.

"Where are they taking him?" Fiona inquired just as she noticed two other Oompa Loompas, plus Steven's brother traveling inside a glass elevator.

"I assume they are going to the reversing room, however, I'm not sure they will get there in time." The same Oompa Loompa said, concern expressed in his voice.

At that very moment, a long deafening silence began to fill the atmosphere, as no one knew what to do or say about the current situation.

Until Eleanor's lips formed a smile as if she had come up with a plan.

"Can we go to the inventing room?" was Eleanor's sudden question that instantly put an end to the long silence.

The Oompa Loompa standing closest to her gave her an odd look. "What makes you inquire about this?"

Eleanor gave him a beam as she explained her motives. "So even though you may be able to fix some of the aftermaths of each child's incidents, I thought I could help fix the rest. If that's okay with you of course?"

The two Oompa Loompas took a few seconds to talk it through before coming up with a decision.

"We have come to the decision that we shall let you go along with your plan, but we must know what you want to accomplish out of this." An Oompa Loompa said, turning to look at Eleanor as he spoke.

Eleanor then lets out a proud smile as she explained herself.

"Well…"

Claudia carefully eyed up the glass elevator as she and Sonya stepped inside soon after Charlie.

No one spoke throughout their entire time traveling in the elevator, not even when Charlie pressed a button which Claudia wasn't able to catch a glimpse of.

The elevator suddenly shot upwards at a very fast pace, nearly causing Sonya to collapse on the floor due to the impact of the speed.

It wasn't until the elevator finally stopped that Claudia asked the chocolatier where she and her mother were being taken. However, her question was answered by silence as Charlie lead them into a room labeled, The projection room, in bold silver letters.

As Claudia and her mother walked into the room all that was there for their eyes to see what a huge white screen, with a projector placed on the pure white ceiling. There was only one Oompa Loompa in the room, sat in a white chair with a controller in his left hand.

"Charlie, why are we in here?" Claudia said after having looked around for a few more seconds.

Charlie turned around to face her before answering her question. "Well, if you look at the screen you shall see for yourself."

Immediately after saying that the room suddenly went pitch black before the projector suddenly displayed a dark blue background with the words, CONGRATULATIONS ON BECOMING THE NEW HEIR OF THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY! In capital letters in a golden color. This was soon followed by multiple fireworks appearing on the screen, each firework displaying a letter of Claudia's name going by the order of the rainbow until it spelled out her full name, also in capital letters.

Claudia smiled during the entire presentation.

"Now," Charlie said. "There is only one thing I have left to do before you can officially become the heir to the chocolate factory."

Claudia gleefully looked up at her mother who elbowed her as if to silently say, you did it, my girl!

"Claudia Smith, I must get you to sign these papers which basically says that you have to promise till the day of your departure that you shall not betray, or do anything to violate the contract. And that you agree to the terms and conditions of course."

"Oh yes," Claudia said with a smile, with a gleam in her brown eyes.

"If you and your mother wish to sign here and then everything will be sorted," Charlie said.

As Claudia and Sonya reached out towards the pen that they were to sign the papers with, the pen suddenly flew out from Claudia's grasp just as she was about to write her signature.

Before Claudia or Sonya could pick it up Charlie beat them to it.

"Oh, I do apologize, please, do sign the form, " Charlie said as he passed the pen back to Claudia who raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Alright then" was all she said before returning to sign the form. However, the pen decided to fly out of her hand again, just as she was about to sign the form just like before. Only this time Claudia began to get annoyed while Sonya folded her arms in frustration.

Charlie then went to pick up the pen, but this time his facial expression had more of a serious edge to it.

"Oh goodness me I really don't know why this keeps happening. Why don't you just write your name just here, after all, it would be my absolute pleasure to work with someone such as yourself." Charlie said in a voice that created an uncomfortable feeling in Claudia's stomach.

Just as Claudia was about to grab the pen out of the chocolatiers hand, she was suddenly the victim of a surprise as he snapped his hand shut so she couldn't get her hands on the pen.

"Mr. Bucket, don't you want me to be your-"

Claudia was then cut off mid sentence.

"Of course, I would be delighted to have you as my heir..." Charlie said as he eyes seemed to go darker.

" If I was a complete idiot!" he suddenly roared, making Claudia and Sonya jump in shock.

He then snatched the form from the desk and forcefully scrunched it up into a little ball, before throwing it into the bin which swallowed it up.

"Did you actually think I would let someone who is as sly, manipulative, deceitful and nasty such as yourself!"

Claudia frowned at the chocolatier. "I don't know what's got that into your head, but you have no right to insult me with such harshly spoken words," Claudia said, trying to defend herself.

Charlie chuckled. "Oh don't I?" This was all Charlie said just as the room went pitch black for a second time before several camera screens appeared on the much bigger one. All showing a footage of each room that Claudia and her mother had visited at different stages of the tour.

"You see this room is designed for me to look at any room I need to, particularly when something goes wrong with any of the candies, the machines that make them or if an Oompa Loompa gets injured," Charlie said, turning to look at Claudia and Sonya who looked as if they had seen a ghost.

"However, that's not the only use this room has to offer," Charlie added.

He then told the Oompa Loompa to click on one of them smaller screens labeled camera 1. This screen showed the footage of Claudia in the chocolate room, breaking the fences that were protecting the sticky toffee puddles from anyone's presence.

Claudia took a step back from the chocolatier and the projector screen. "What is this, some freakout?" she questioned seconds later.

"Oh, I think you know" Charlie replied just as another footage was showing Claudia picking up some of the goo that she had thrown at Mandy, which lead to the fight between her and Steven.

"Mandy's accident was certainly no accident was it?" Was all Charlie had to say to get a response out of Claudia.

"Anybody could have put me on that footage to make me look bad."

Charlie shook his head at Claudia's reply. "Oh but the fun doesn't stop there!"

The screen then goes onto showing another footage, but this time in the inventing room where a figure could be seen running out of the testing room holding something. The Oompa Loompa in charge on the controller then zoomed into to reveal the figure was Claudia with the fizzy lifting drink tucked under her arm.

Charlie turned to look at the glaring girl. "I specifically remember telling everyone not to enter that room, but it didn't seem to stop you from getting your grubby hands on it to trick poor Fernando into drinking it."

Claudia groaned as Charlie then got the Oompa Loompa to bring up the footage of her and Eleanor standing near the tube that she had pushed Eleanor down.

"Now this was truly disturbing for me to witness, " Charlie said as he looked down at the floor for a moment. He then focused his attention back onto the huge screen in front of him.

Last but not least the footage of when the group had gotten stuck in the room Charlie hadn't planned on taking the guests came up on the screen. This particular video was aimed at when Claudia had been talking to Joseph at what the transformation tablet could do.

"Even though you didn't do much here, you still messed with Joseph's head while knowing how easily influenced he is. Plus you wanted Steven gone just as you wanted for the others."

Claudia huffed as she gave up with trying to defend herself.

Charlie then approached Claudia and Sonya while saying, "so you thought you could cheat your way through to victory? I'm not a stupid man Claudia, I know when something's not right with the factory. I've been working here for over forty years!"

But before Claudia could even think of what to say Charlie then walked up to Sonya, he wore a facial expression that seemed to be analyzing her.

"What are you staring at?" Claudia asked with a hint of fear in her voice, just as Sonya had taken a few steps back from the chocolatiers questioning gaze.

Charlie frowned. "Why do you look so familiar?" The chocolatier questioned, completely ignoring Claudia's as he maintained his attention to Sonya, not taking his eyes off her at any moment during this time. Sonya took a couple of steps away from him as if she felt trapped in his presence.

"Stop it you're scaring her!" Claudia exclaimed as Charlie continued to stare at her mother, who whimpered and took another couple of steps backwards while holding Claudia's hand.

Instead of responding Charlie then turned towards the Oompa Loompa, requesting him to show a footage of when Sonya had nearly fallen over in the inventing room. He looks at one moment, in particular, the moment where Sonya's leg had stretched at a longer length than an average person could.

That was when it suddenly dawned on Charlie.

"Wait, are you-"

Unfortunately, before Charlie could get his sentence out there, Sonya had made her escape from the projection room, stumbling as she ran across the corridor. The fact she wore black high heels did her no favors when it came to the running part.

That was until Sonya angrily yanked them off her feet before chucking them at Charlie, one landing on his left foot as it flew across the corridor while the other one smacked him straight in the face. Causing him to tumble over onto the floor, but he was soon able to get back up on his feet and chase after her.

"Mom come back!" Claudia shouted as she picked up the shoes that her mother had not so long ago thrown at the chocolatier.

Although she was aware of her daughter's frantic calls, Sonya decided to keep on running but at a faster pace because her high heels were no longer slowing her down.

After having been running for what felt like a lifetime, Sonya quickly glanced at a door that said, Nut sorting room, in bright pink letters. Breathing heavily from a mixture of exhaustion and fear Sonya dashed inside to see a room full of squirrels tapping nuts that popped out in front of them at an impressive speed.

Looking around she saw that a large majority of the nuts they tapped were placed next to them before being sent off ready to use, while a very limited number of them were tossed onto the floor where they rolled onto the floor before disappearing down a hole.

"Mom!" Claudia shouted just as she had reached the entrance to the nut-sorting room, with Charlie following closely behind her. Suddenly Sonya heard the door burst open as she saw her daughter and the chocolatier try to stop her from going any further.

What they didn't expect was for her to jump over the gate she had been holding onto to catch her breath after all the running.

"Mom!" Claudia shouted again, moving towards the gate herself in attempt to get her to come back.

Sonya who had made it clear that she wasn't going back towards the chocolatier or Claudia, it was time for Charlie to speak up.

"Sonya, the squirrels don't like being disturbed during their work. I strongly advise you to get away from them!" Charlie warned.

Despite Charlie's warning, Sonya made no effort to move away, instead, she did the opposite and walked further back causing the all the squirrels to turn and stare at her.

"Mom please, they could be dangerous!" Claudia shouted with concern. Now desperate for her mother to be back by her side.

Again Sonya refused to move a single step towards her daughter or the chocolatier.

"Please, I beg you, get away from them before they attack!" Charlie called out. Once Sonya heard the word attack, she slowly walked back to where Claudia and Charlie were standing behind the gate.

But as she was making her way towards them she was greeted to a shock as one of the squirrels made a noise, causing Sonya to jump and hit the nut it had been in the process of tapping.

Then at that moment the same squirrel made a louder noise before the whole gang of them suddenly pounced onto Sonya. At first, Sonya was able to push them away from her without any problems, but soon enough the gang of squirrels became stronger as a group which meant that Sonya began to struggle to fight them off.

But that wasn't all she needed to worry about as she soon found herself trapped by the gang of squirrels, who wasted no time in continuing their attack. Ending up with Sonya being pushed to the floor with a loud thud.

Claudia gasped as she saw her mother being aggressively pinned to the floor, on the other hand, Charlie looked anything but shocked as if he had wanted this to happen.

"Get off me you vile vermin!" Sonya wailed as some of the squirrels began to investigate her by clawing at her gloved hands, her feet along with the rest of her body, while the others held her down so she unable to move.

Having had enough of seeing her mother being more or less tortured by the little rodents, Claudia snapped her head round to glare at the chocolatier.

"Don't just stand there, help her!" Claudia yelled, her glare only becoming deeper when Charlie didn't make a move.

Claudia looked as if she wanted to punch the chocolatier. Those thoughts were swiped from her mind when she and Charlie both noticed the squirrels had stopped investigating Sonya. And instead of the squirrels testing to see if Sonya was a bad nut, they simply just stood there as if they knew something Charlie didn't. Claudia was unsure whether to be concerned or grateful.

Her thoughts were then cut short as the squirrel which Claudia assumed was the boss of the gang jumped on top of Sonya's chest, making an alarming low squeaking noise. Claudia could only stare as she along with her mother were clueless as to what that noise could have meant.

But it was only a few moments later that Sonya was abruptly exposed to something more shocking, as the squirrel that had previously jumped onto her chest started to look at certain parts of her. After some kind of signal was made, the same squirrel along with a few others began to suddenly tug at the gloves on her hands, her jet black hair, and sunglasses.

Claudia could only stare at the chocolatier before deciding if he wasn't going to save her mother from the savage squirrels, she would do so herself. However, by the time she had yanked the gate open and ran halfway down the stairs, the squirrels had managed to rip the gloves off of Sonya's hands.

"No, no no!" Sonya pleaded moments before the squirrel that had been on her chest for the entire procedure viciously pulled at Sonya's supposedly jet black hair. Only to find that black hair was in fact a wig, as it was tossed onto the floor, revealing her face to be an interesting shade of blue, just like her hands.

Claudia clamped a hand over her mouth as if she was about to vomit.

Seconds later Charlie put up a hand before shouting out, "stop, get back to your stations!" Which instantly got the squirrels to let go of Claudia's mother, who was heavily breathing from the disturbing events that she had just gone through.

Claudia then rushed down the steps to help her mother get back up on her feet as if to cover up what had just happened. But before either she or her mother could say anything, Charlie approached the two girls with a stern look, his arms folded across his chest.

"I recognize an old face when I see one" was all Charlie had to say which didn't earn him any kind of response.

"So, after many years we meet again." Charlie continued. "Unfortunately for the wrong reasons."

The two girls could only stare at Charlie as he carried on talking.

"As nice as it's been to see you again, I must insist that you and Claudia should-"

The chocolatier was then unexpectedly cut off from his sentence as Claudia walked up to him, with a smirk on her face.

"Look, my name's not Claudia Smith, it's Samantha."

_Samantha Beauregarde._


	16. Fatal flaw

"So the Beauregarde's are back and have proven that over the course of forty years, they still show no regard," Charlie said with a stern facial expression.

The Beauregarde's glared at the chocolatier as he walked closer towards them.

"Violet, long time no see. Though I personally would have preferred not to see you. However, it does prove to me that surprises can really be just around the corner." Charlie continued, looking at Samatha as he spoke.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't one defeat enough for you?" Charlie continued sarcastically. "Or could you not resist coming back for more?"

Violet rolled her eyes, scoffing in disbelief. "Everyone knows that I should have won the special prize!"

Charlie shook his head in disagreement, letting Violet carry on with her rant.

"The minute I walked through the entrance I could tell Wonka could sense I had all the qualities needed to be his heir, he knew I was that champion. So why did he have to throw it all away and pick a loser like you!"

"Maybe he wanted someone who shared his love for candy, instead of someone who was only in it to show off her victory to the public." Charlie retorted, insulted that Violet would say such a thing. But knowing her, he shouldn't he have been too surprised.

Violet let out a dangerous growl before marching over to the chocolatier until her face was only a few inches away from his. Samantha could only stand and stare as her mother began to shout in Charlie's face.

"Listen, you may have won the factory, but you most certainly haven't won the battle Bucket! I was so close to gaining the factory for Samantha and myself, though I'm not so sure I could have put up with your presence every day."

Charlie remained silent as Violet clearly had more to say to him. Doing his best to stay calm throughout her shouting session.

"You and I both know that I'm the only true winner here, and this factory would have been mine if Wonka hadn't given me that ghastly gum!"

Charlie's calm facial expression immediately turned into one of rage. "He didn't give it to you, you took it into your own hands and shoved it in your mouth!" Charlie argued.

Violet's eyes widened at the fact that Charlie had dared to fight back. Her facial expression soon returned to the glare she had been holding for quite a while.

"He didn't do anything to stop me," Was all Violet said in response.

He did warn you, Charlie thought to himself before returning his focus onto the rather violet, Violet.

"At first I thought he liked me, given the fact he said my high levels of confidence were the key to my success. Plus I showed far more of an interest than any of the other 'winners'." Violet did air quotes when calling the other ticket finders winners.

"But what did I get in return?! I was transformed into a big, bulging blueberry without even as much as a minuscule amount of concern from Mr. Wonka!" Violet continued.

Charlie sighed as he replied with a fed up sentence of, "You brought all that on yourself. You ignored Mr. Wonkas warnings despite, him and even my own Grandpa Joe telling you to spit it out. But your boastful and vicious competitiveness got in the way of any common sense entering your head that obeying Mr. Wonka wouldn't have been such a bad idea."

Violet scowled at the chocolatier while Samantha gave him a disbelieving look.

The blue woman suddenly walked a step closer towards Charlie, half a grin threatening to spread across her lips.

"You know I had secretly hoped that Mr. Wonka was still around so I could get my revenge, but since he's not, you shall do instead."

Samantha smiled upon hearing that sentence, Violet turned to give her daughter a smile in return.

"You see my skin may be blue but I did develop increased flexibility, and I'm sure you're aware that I was always quite skilled when it came to karate. But now you shall come face to face with it, at full pelt!"

All of a sudden Violets left leg swung out of nowhere as she aimed for Charlie's face, which he had been lucky enough to dodge.

"Go for it mom!" Samantha cheered as Violet prepared to kick the chocolatier a second time.

However just as she was about to get that swing just right, a pair of Oompa Loompas entered the room, with something behind them which wasn't visible. Violet was the first one to toss her head towards the cause of the interruption.

"Charlie, two of the eight remaining guests are here." One of the Oompa Loompas informed while the other kept looking behind him, towards the door.

"Bring them in," Charlie said, gesturing for the Oompa Loompas to get them inside. After hearing Charlie's latest orders Violet made sure she was nowhere to be seen. On the other hand, Samantha decided to make an appearance.

Just before the two guests entered, Charlie turned to give Samantha a look which could have said, now it's time to get a good look at what you've done.

Once Samantha had seen the look Charlie gave her, she was soon distracted by the door opening at it's fullest. Revealing Mandy and Judy Perkins both caked in sticky toffee and shuffling like penguins as they found it difficult to walk.

The sticky toffee substance hung off their clothes, their tiger fur coats having caught the worst of it. To add to their discomfort whenever they walked a squelching noise could be heard as the toffee separated itself from their legs, then being stuck back together once the had stopped moving. Their arms were a different matter as they seemed to be glued down to their sides, therefore being unable to move. The bottom of Mandy's hair was also covered in sticky toffee along with her mouth, but this time it didn't stop her from talking.

"I better get a new coat after this. In fact, I want two new coats, so you better get them for me!" Mandy shouted, giving her mother a vicious look as her voice echoed across the room.

"Yes, Mandy" Judy replied in a much quieter voice.

"Why have I been brought here? I want to get out of here, NOW!" Mandy bellowed once the Perkins were only a few feet away from Charlie.

"Of course you do!" Judy agreed rather loudly. "And don't you worry Mandy we shall be leaving, just as soon as I sort out money matters with Mr. Bucket!"

Charlie gulped as a hint of fear could be seen in his facial expression. But it was soon not to be the only worry he would be having.

Not too far away muffled shouting could be heard coming towards the door to the nut- sorting room. As the door opened the voice soon became familiar to the chocolatier.

"Stay behind me, Fernando!" Bryant hissed towards his son, just as they were being escorted by two other Oompa Loompas. Glimpses of a white figure trailing behind Bryant could be seen as they both continued to walk towards the chocolatier. Bryant and a hidden Fernando carried on walking over until they were placed next to the Perkins.

Charlie could only squeak as he braced himself for another ear bashing.

"Bucket." Bryant spat. "I did inform you if anything went wrong during the procedure that was meant to help my son that I would sue. So Bucket, you can say goodby to this foul factory of yours, as by the time you have paid me for damages, I can assure you this place will no longer be standing!"

Charlie scratched his head, already seeming defeated without the impact of Bryant's speech.

But once again he was unable to focus on him for too long as the door opened for the third time, but for some reason, it took a while longer than expected. After what seemed like an eternity he was soon greeted to the answer of why it had taken so long.

As Charlie looked to his right he could see that Steven had turned back into a human from the mole rat monstrosity, however, Steven's face was still invaded by heavy wrinkled along with incredibly frail hands, his left hand taking up the job of holding a walking stick. Hence why he was walking at such a slow pace.

Steven's hair was still in its usual style, but now a dark gray color instead of the vibrant blue it used to be. Joseph walked right behind him as did the two Oompa Loompas, who had escorted them to the reversing room.

Once the Fox brothers had been placed next to Bryant and Fernando Cruz, Steven was greeted with some odd looks. Rolling his eyes he let out a brief explanation of what had happened.

"Alright I was sent to the reversing room, and sure it got rid of the mole rat thing. But now I'm seventy years older than I should be!" Steven angrily said, glaring at Charlie as he spoke.

All Charlie could do for a response was sigh deeply, now totally lost at what to do to fix things.

"So Mr. Bucket, I demand to know what you propose to do about this!" Judy snapped as she pointed to hers and Mandy's toffee stained clothes.

"Well I…" was all Charlie was able to say as Bryant hastily interrupted.

"Yes, your problems are very touching, and I assure you your next in line," Bryant sarcastically hissed towards Judy, before turning to the chocolatier. "My son has a very important modeling award ceremony in less than twenty- four hours, and he cannot attend it looking like a bulging blob fish!"

Charlie struggled to come up with a response, shocked at how he had described his son's apparent appearance. But he didn't have to wait too long as Steven suddenly pulled out the walking stick he had to use, which he was then successful enough to grab under Fernando's arm. This caused him to stumble from behind his father before he was exposed to the view of the other guests.

Bryant grimaced in disgust at Fernando as everyone continued to stare at him. His skin was still the same ghostly shade of white since becoming the ball of gas. Along with the change of skin color, Fernando's body and face still remained bloated, which was fairly noticeable as he tried to shuffle away from the others strange looks. Because of how bloated Fernando was, his shirt was barely able to cover his chest, therefor exposing his larger body figure. The fact that some of the buttons from his shirt had disappeared during his incident didn't help his situation.

"You see what I'm seeing Bucket? A fashion fiasco on legs!" Bryant exclaimed with a hint of sadness in his voice, fiercely pointing at Fernando who looked down at the floor in shame.

Samantha winced at Bryant's harsh name calling.

Charlie remained silent as he struggled to find the right words to say.

"Now back to money matters, I shall be sueing due to the fact that my son will now permanently marked by these unfortunate circumstances, meaning that my profits will plummet dramatically!" Bryant continued, his fixed glare on Charlie not softening once during his rant.

"Enough of your pointless rambling!" Judy suddenly interrupted, scowling at Bryant who showed no issues in returning it.

Judy then turned to address the chocolatier. "Mandy and I are not going to let you get away with purposely letting my little girl fall into toffee that resembles quicksand. Therefor I will also be sueing you for over thousands of pounds, as I will not tolerate this kind of monstrosity towards us!"

Charlie sighed as the guests continued to shout, but not just at him.

"Look, lady, my son is a damn slight more important than your snot rag of a child," Bryant said through gritted teeth.

Having heard his comment Judy then snapped her head round to face him.

"How dare you talk about my daughter in such a rude manor!" Judy yelled in retaliation while Mandy gave him one of her cold glares.

"I dare quite easily, as I am the man whose son has been picked to model for various famous magazines and ceremonies" Bryant retorted, earning a scornful laugh from Steven.

"Ha! Whoever was judging that day must have been blind, or had thrown up any traces of common sense that they had ever gained in their lifetime."

Bryant turned his attention towards the now gray - haired boy.

"I didn't ask for your input!" Bryant growled in response, his fists clenched with anger.

"Oh I'm so sorry, next time I'll take extra care not to frazzle your already bruised ego, " Steven said in mock guilt, glancing at Fernando while managing to hold in a smile.

Charlie, Samatha and even Violet still struggled to come up with anything to say. Instead, they could only stand and watch as the remaining guests continue their already heated argument.

"I'll think you'll find that Fernando's modeling days have been cut short," Judy said, smirking as she spoke.

Bryant could only shoot a stern stare at Fernando as if to silently say, are you listening to this boy.

"Now that all the riff -raff has been tossed to the side, we need to discuss more major matters," Judy said, her focus now on Charlie who sighed in remorse.

Listening to their disagreements escalate further, Samantha began to feel a twinge of guilt creeping up on her.

"Not until my boy is back to being able to show himself in the spotlight" Bryant butted in.

"It will take more than a spotlight to make him look any good," Judy commented, grinning when Bryant lost his temper.

"Show me to the exit Bucket, I shall not stand here any longer and be insulted!" Bryant shouted as if he was the victim of all this.

"Oh don't flatter yourself, you could be anywhere and be insulted" Steven sarcastically replied. Bryant snarled in response.

As the arguing show no signs of stopping, Samantha was getting closer to the urge of losing her cool. Even Violet was beginning to feel the impact of the dreadful atmosphere.

"Mother, hurry up and sue him this instant because if I don't get those coats I will never speak to you again!" Mandy demanded as well as stamping her foot to make sure she was heard.

"I cannot bare the fact that this is what will permanently be haunting me every day, I will be forced into hiding for the reminder of my days!" Bryant cried, pointing at Fernando who took a couple of steps backwards as if to disappear entirely.

Steven rolled his eyes out of irritation. "Has it escaped anyone's attention that I have the looks and the body of an 82- year old man!"

The guests all suddenly turned to Charlie at the same time, which proved to be disturbing for the chocolatier himself.

"When I get my way, I will make sure that this factory of yours will be gone within seconds" Judy stated, scowling at Charlie.

"I'll break you for this, just you wait Bucket!" Bryant added.

Steven was the last person to walk up to the chocolatier with folded arms, his eyes darkening when saying, "Why don't I make all this known to the public, see how much people respect the boy who won Wonka's factory then."

Then at that very moment was when Samantha could no longer contain her mixed inner feelings.

"WILL ALL OF YOU, JUST QUIT IT!" Samantha roared, instantly putting a stop to all the arguing as the room went completely silent.

After a few seconds of silence, Judy was the one to break it.

"If your little hissy fit is you attempting to justify what this repulsive man has done to me and my little girl then you are-"

Judy was snappily cut off from finishing her sentence as Samantha unexpectedly blurted out, "Charlie has nothing to justify because it was me who did these things to you all!"

Everyone in the room gasped, including Charlie himself due to the impact of Samantha's sudden revelation.

"You?" Judy questioned, speaking for all the guests as she pointed towards Samantha, who didn't seem at all fazed.

"Yeah" Samantha bluntly replied.

Judy then scowled at her."And just what were you hoping to achieve from these inconveniences?"

"Because I thought you all needed taking down a peg or two," Samantha said, making sure she took her time to look at each and every person standing in front of her.

Bryant was next to approach her, but less calmly.

"So you are the reason Fernando is now painfully hideous to look at," Bryant growled.

Samantha shamelessly nodded.

"I do hope you realize the consequences your actions have caused for me, you unruly child!" Bryant then walked a few steps closer towards Samantha, his fists clenched as if to control his seething anger. "Now that I'm aware of your deeds, I am going to make you pay Claudia Smith!"

Samantha laughed at Bryant's expense. "You know your son may be scared of you but I'm not, so back off!" Samantha retaliated, shoving him away. She then added with a grin, " for your information, my names Samantha."

He along with the others all gave her a weird look in response.

Once Bryant had walked away to join Fernando, Samantha looked over at Steven who stared back at her.

"Turns out you were right about me" was all Samantha had to say, grinning slightly as Steven frowned.

"Yeah well, it only took a fool to make your plan succeed" Steven replied while turning to look at his brother, who guiltily sighed.

Samantha let out a small smirk as if she was thinking, you were the fool.

Her smirk soon vanished as the guests began to shout numerous things at her, that was until something unexpected decided to step in.

"If you want to pick a fight with someone, try me" Violet suddenly said in a loud voice, just before revealing herself which earned her a mixture of gasps and stares, as they absorbed the sights of a completely blue woman.

"A human blueberry?!" Mandy shrieked straight after Violet's reveal.

"Yes you have observed correctly" Violet replied with a hint of awkwardness in her voice before adding, "but I have also observed all of you."

"What do you mean?" Judy questioned suspiciously.

"Well, none of you lot are exactly what Charlie had in mind for his heir, just as I wasn't what Wonka wanted."

Violet looked over to Charlie for a split second who awkwardly looked back. She then turned to address the guests.

"Like Charlie, I was also lucky enough to win one of five golden tickets, and although my fatal flaw was pointed out to me by singing, I feel that I should be the one to break yours to you."

For once none of the guests spoke as none of them knew what to say.

"I'll start with you" Violet stated, walking up to the Perkins. "You always go first don't you."

"You both remind me of the other female ticket winner, Veruca Salt. I could say she and your daughter are almost identical." Violet focused her gaze on Mandy as she spoke.

Judy did a double take when hearing her name. "Veruca? Are you trying to call us warts!" Judy exclaimed moments later, grabbing Violet's attention.

"No. But what I am trying to say is that spoiling your daughter by providing her with everything her heart desires, is going to screw you over in the long run."

Violet let out small sigh before continuing.

"Veruca's father was like you. Giving into each and every one of his daughter's demands, no matter the cost or what it could lead to in the future. She like Mandy wanted a golden ticket, and indeed she got one, but what she and her foolish father didn't expect was to get a life lesson. So long story short, Veruca wanted a squirrel who didn't share her desire to be one of many pets, which lead to her along with her father being tossed into the garbage shoot, deemed as bad nuts."

Both Mandy and Judy's eyes widened for a split second.

"But it doesn't end there. When they had finally been able to escape the garbage chute Mr. Salt had decided it was time to discipline his daughter. At first he was determined to change his daughter's attitude for the better, but when Veruca rebelled, the pushover of a father he had always been soon came back to bite him. Things went from bad to worse as Veruca got older, demanding for more and more which could sometimes cost more money than what their nut factory was earning. They ended up losing their business and everything else they had, all because Mr. Salt had given into his wart of a daughter's demands."

Violet looked at Judy, in particular, one more time before walking towards Bryant.

"You." She began. "Perfectly portray mine and my mother's relationship when I was Fernando's age."

Violet took a deep breath before continuing, flashbacks to those days clearly having an effect on her.

"Like my mother, you only see your child as something to show off in front of a camera, and when the cameras are turned off, your pride in your son does the same. I mean what is he, your dog? If he gets something right he gets a treat, if not he gets punished, also, like how my mother treated me. It was only when I found the third ticket that my mother really took an interest in my achievements, even though she did scold me for failing to be the first to find a ticket."

"Why should any of this concern me?" Bryant firmly interrupted, his arms folded as tightly as his will to listen was.

Violet ignored his comment.

"Because I don't want Fernando to go through what I had to. You see even though I was told not to chew this particular piece of gum, I did it anyway because I wanted to make my mom proud. It turned me into a ten- foot tall blueberry, which wasn't what I or mom had in mind when being the first person in the world to try something. "

Violet paused for a second before resuming her speech.

"Luckily for me, I was able to go to the juicing room for treatment, but it didn't treat the fact that my mother no longer wanted anything to do with me. Despite that, she was the one to encourage me to chew it throughout the warnings."

Violet felt her throat close up a tiny bit, gulping when forcing herself to let out her next sentence.

"I did try to put a positive spin on the outcome of my accident, but she wasn't impressed and I certainly wasn't her little champion anymore. It didn't get any better within the following days as I along with the three other brats were all headlines in the news. Even when the chocolate factory drama had eventually faded, my mother continued to block me out, as if I no longer existed in her life. It began with her leaving me home alone for hours, as she was too embarrassed to send me to school. It soon escalated to her disappearing for days without any explanation as to where and why she went. But the last straw for me was when one of her friends told me that she had gotten herself a new boyfriend, but the big shock was that she was pregnant with a little girl…"

Violet trailed off for a second before regaining herself.

"When I found this out I was distraught, so I packed my bags and left before my mom could leave me again."

Violet took a moment to look at the Cruz's to see Fernando with a sorrowful look in his eyes, while Bryant remained unfazed.

"In the end, it was my aunt Peggy who took me into her home and wasn't bothered that my skin was blue, she cared for me no matter what, like a proper parent should."

Charlie gave the blue woman a sad look, as he listened carefully to what she was openly telling everyone in the room.

But before Violet could carry on, Bryant rudely interrupted for the second time.

"Look, I'm sure your life story was as terrible as it sounds, but what you don't understand is-" Bryant was forcefully cut off by Violet, who was now only standing a few inches away from head butting him.

" You know during those years after my unpleasant experience I suffered from many issues, I thought I wasn't worth anything to anyone. I felt that everything was my fault and that my mother had the right to leave me. I didn't see the point in continuing life anymore. However, living with my aunt Peggy got me to realize that I didn't have to live that way. That I still had the chance to make something of my life. But I worry that Fernando won't have someone to do what I was fortunate enough to have."

Violet then leaned into Bryant's ear and whispered, "You have to change your ways, because if you don't I fear your son will feel the impact and go down the same road I did. In the end, it will come back to bite you, especially if he lets your constant berating along with his own misery get the better of him. Do you really want that for your son? You think about that."

Violet then made her way towards Steven and Joseph Fox, leaving Bryant with her last words for him.

"I'm gonna keep it short and simple." Violet began as she was welcomed by Stevens bored facial expression.

"I think the reason why you're so cynical towards everyone including your brother, is because you feel the need to hide behind the sarcasm and rude remarks, to cover up the fact that you don't like your own life that much."

"No, I don't," Steven argued, being the only kid to rebel against Violet's thoughts.

"Look I'm not gonna argue about this, but I do think you need to stop with the insults and realize that you don't need to act that way to gain attention." Violet calmly stated, earning her an eye roll from Steven.

Once Violet had stepped away from the Fox brothers, the room had fallen into a deep silence, as for once nobody had anything to say.

During this unusual occurrence, Samantha had taken the time to watch Charlie and her mother exchange looks from the corner of her eye. She then looked round at all the guests, most of which were doing their best to avoid her gaze by looking elsewhere. Samantha continued to look amongst them, that was until a sudden thought dawned on her.

"Er, guys. I hate to break this rather serene silence but I think you'll find were missing someone" Samantha said, gaining the attention of everyone else in the room.

Some of the guests then proceeded to look around the room. "Who?" Judy asked seconds later.

"That Eleanor girl," Violet answered in a worried tone.

"What happened to her man?" Joseph asked, that being the very question Samantha wanted to avoid answering at all costs.

"She went down some tube, don't know where it went," Steven answered for her. Everyone's eyes then shifted onto her.

Before Samantha could explain herself, the door to the but sorting room suddenly opened, which made the guests turn their attention towards the door. Samantha sighed in relief.

Once she had turned to see what was going on, she along with the others were torn between being confused and nervous when seeing a huge metal tub, that was being carried by a crane, like machine driven by two Oompa Loompas. This was then followed by another Oompa Loompa carrying a square shaped tablet with gloved hands, while another Oompa Loompa, with Eleanor and Fiona walking behind him carried a round yellow pill which had the Wonka symbol in the middle.

"Why is that urchin with them?!" Mandy blurted out, earning herself a scowl from Samantha.

However Eleanor smiled as all she provided as an answer was, "wait and see."

Sure enough, Mandy was the first to find out as the crane that held the metal tub of sloshing liquid approached her and Judy. Moments later both the Perkins screamed as all the transparent fluid splashed over them, instantly removing all the sticky toffee which had previously been stuck to their clothes and themselves.

"What on earth was that?" Judy questioned, which Eleanor was more than happy to answer.

"It's Mr. Bucket's stain removing shake. I figured that if one drop could make a stain disappear, I thought it would have the same effect if a whole tub was poured onto someone covered in something."

Mandy then took a few seconds to look down at herself, to find no traces of the toffee anywhere on her. "It's about time that gunk was off of me, but I still want those coats!" Mandy said straight afterwards.

Eleanor then moved on to Bryant and Fernando, with an Oompa Loompa following closely behind. The Oompa Loompa then gave the square tablet to Eleanor who explained what it was to Fernando.

"This tablet that is designed to make you burp loudly-" Was all Eleanor had the chance to say when Bryant hastily interrupted.

"I don't approve of burping, it's a disgusting thing to do," Bryant said, frowning at Eleanor as he spoke.

"He needs to burp as some of the gas from the fizzy lifting drink is stuck inside him" Eleanor replied, giving Bryant a reassuring smile.

"It won't harm him, I promise" Eleanor added for good measure.

But before he could protest any further, Fernando had already taken the tablet off of Eleanor and placed it into his mouth. He gave her a small smile before he was overtaken by the urge to burp. In less than thirty seconds he let out a huge burp, immediately reversing the ghostly shade of white along with the bloating.

"Merci, er thank you so much, " Fernando said, ignoring his father's stern look.

"Je t'en prie" Eleanor replied in French, impressing Fernando more.

Eleanor then made her way over to Steven with the round yellow tablet given to her by an Oompa Loompa.

"This is one of Mr. Wonka's inventions called the Wonka-vite. It is designed to decrease the age of elderly people so they can be young again."

When Steven gave her a look of disbelief, Eleanor was quick to convince him to take it. "For this particular tablet, I measured the precise amount that you need to turn you back into a twelve - year old."

"Fine," Steven grumbled as he reluctantly took the tablet. Joseph gasped in amazement as he saw his younger brothers slowly turn back into his twelve - year old self. To make sure it was true, Steven looked at his hands which were no longer frail or decorated with wrinkles. He even pulled out a strand of his blue hair to make sure he wasn't being deceived.

Steven raised his eyebrows, which Eleanor took as a silent thank you.

Samantha who had stayed silent all this time took a moment to give Eleanor a small smile as if to also give her a silent thank you but for something much more major.

She was soon snapped out of her thoughts when a good proportion of the guests requested, some not so nice to be shown out of the factory. But within hearing distance, she could detect that Charlie and one of the Oompa Loompas had other ideas.

"We cannot let them leave like this, otherwise they will have learned nothing from today." The Oompa Loompa told the chocolatier who was unsure of what he was trying to say.

This time it was Charlie who took the task of looking around all the guests, to see Mandy having a go at her mother, Fernando standing as far away from his father as he could get, with his arms folded as if to protect himself from his father. He then looked towards Steven who was glaring right back at him, while his brother seemed to be in a world of his own.

Focusing back onto the conversation with the Oompa Loompa Charlie replied with, "but I don't know how to fix this."

The Oompa Loompa smiled slightly as he said, "well there are a few rooms you haven't shown them yet. Perhaps as an apology, you could treat them to a few extra insights to make up for the inconveniences."

Charle gave him a worried look. "Which rooms would I show them, there are so many they haven't seen."

The Oompa Loompas earlier smile transformed into a mischievous grin as he said, "let's take them to Dessert Island."

Charlie cocked his head as he asked, "Hey, what's with the grin?"

"Just go with it, it will all work out in the end" The Oompa Loompa replied with confidence.

"Alright," Charlie whispered before announcing to the guests as an apology he would be showing them a few extra rooms. It had taken some convincing but to his surprise, he had managed to get persuade them to stay a while longer.

As they all assembled themselves to be taken over to Dessert Island, Samantha couldn't help but think something was up, but couldn't put a finger on what it was. However, she was soon distracted by seeing the glass elevator once again in front of her very own eyes.

Samantha took a deep breath as she, along with everyone else prepared for what was ahead of them.


	17. Being vain leads to pain

"Come on everyone, in we go!" Charlie exclaimed, leading the guests to the glass elevator. However, not all of them were convinced that this was a safe method of transport.

"Are you mad? You can't possibly expect us to ride in that!" Bryant shouted, pointing towards the chocolatier as if he was completely bonkers.

"Surely this isn't safe for us to even consider using" Judy added, she too expressing concern about the elevator.

Charlie then spent at least a minute on explaining how efficient the great glass elevator really was, informing them on how there was only a 0.1% chance they could crash.

"Stop faffing around, let's go in!" Mandy demanded seconds later, putting an end to the safety discussion.

As the guests gathered inside the elevator, some were looking around in astonishment at the impressive amount of buttons along both sides.

"Woah, look at all those button's auntie!" Eleanor exclaimed in admiration, her eyes darting around each button.

"Yes, they're quite magnificent" Fiona happily agreed.

Fernando also had the same look of curiosity as he asked, "how many rooms do you have in the factory?"

Charlie smiled slightly as he was about to answer his question, however, an interruption occurred.

"Mr. Bucket" Mandy began, walking towards the chocolatier with a sweet smile. "Let me press a button, I want to press a button!" Mandy then shouted, her smile vanishing as shortly as it appeared.

Charlie didn't respond as he pressed a button himself, earning a death glare from the blonde haired girl.

The elevator then jerked to the left as it took the guests to their destination, some of the group had their eyes squeezed shut due to the frightening speed they were traveling at. Then in a matter of seconds, the elevator landed with a thud, shocking the guests once more before realizing they had arrived in front of a door which said, Dessert island, in yellow and light brown flashing letters.

"Welcome to Dessert island!" Charlie said as the guests stumbled out of the elevator. Charlie then opened the door to reveal a room covered with all kinds of various desserts, including a yellow fluid that circled the outside of the island.

"This room right here is where I make some of the most delicious desserts ever made" Charlie began, as he turned to look at each and every person's reaction. Some of which were good, others not so good.

The chocolatier then took this as an opportunity to explain further. "To give you an idea of just some of the many wonders, if you look to your right you can see the rice pudding rocks. Then to your left, we have the cookie dough caves, along with the pavlova palm trees and the chocolate brownie sand."

"Sick bro" Joseph exclaimed in amazement.

"Incredible!" Eleanor added.

"Disgusting" Bryant muttered under his breath.

"Actually I think it's gorgeous Mr. Bucket" Fernando commented, smiling at the view. However, he and Bryant clearly weren't on the same page as he turned to give his son a stern glare, which Fernando put in a huge amount of effort to ignore.

Before Bryant could say anything, a sudden noise filled the room as a long object came around the corner. Once the object traveled closer towards the guests, some of them stared in awe as the object was revealed to be a bus in all different colors driven by an Oompa Loompa.

"Now this is the latest addition to the island, I would like to introduce you all to the around the clock dessert bus!" Charlie said, the excitement in his voice noticeable.

The Mai's, in particular, were intrigued by the vehicle.

"Mr. Bucket, how many kinds of desserts are on the bus?" Eleanor asked the same question which a few others were also interested in getting an answer to.

"Well this bus consists of lemon meringue pie at the front, cherry Bakewell tarts in the middle and ice cream sundae at the end."

Charlie then turned to look at the guests, as they absorbed all the information the chocolatier had told them.

"Can you sit in it?" Joseph asked, earning a groan from his younger brother.

"Oh yes, and the seats are made from the finest cheesecake so you can travel in comfort!" Charlie replied. Grinning when seeing some of the guests delighted smiles.

"Mother I want a beautiful bus like this, that's what I want" Mandy happily declared, beaming at the sight of the bus. But her happy moment didn't last long, as she soon turned to Judy, her earlier beam transforming into a commanding glare. "So you better make sure I get one!"

"What she wants is a good kick up the backside" Steven grumbled.

"Bro" Joseph whispered, elbowing Steven for his unnecessary comment.

"You shall get one, my dear, just as soon as I possibly can" Judy responded to a less than satisfied daughter.

Mandy was then about to open her mouth to protest until she was sharply interrupted by Charlie as he announced, "anyway people I think I speak for all of us when I say let's cut the chit-chat and explore!"

Charlie was then met with a few smiles and cheers, mostly from everyone except for Bryant.

"You can all speak for yourselves, but my son and I will not allow ourselves to be lured in with your sugary toxins," Bryant said, shooting a disapproving look towards the chocolatier.

However, Fernando didn't say or do anything to confirm any kind of agreement.

Looks like you're the only one there" Steven sniggered, distracting Bryant from saying anything else to Fernando.

At that very moment was when Charlie decided to intervene by dismissing the group to take a good look around the room, giving them a time limit of ten minutes.

Once the majority of the group had run off to do what they pleased, this left Fernando and his father on their own.

"Look at them all, stuffing their faces with those nasty sugary substances. But we shall not lower ourselves down to their levels" Bryant said in a serious lecturing tone.

But Fernando, on the other hand, had different ideas. Instead of acknowledging his father's words he dared to take a couple of adventurous steps forward towards the bus, reaching his hand out to grab some of the stunning sweet treats. That was until he felt himself being forcefully dragged back by his shoulder.

"Fernando!" Bryant hissed before adding, "what is the matter with you boy!" Uncaring of the fact that Oompa Loompa driving the bus gave him a look of irritation.

"I don't know where this foolish attitude has come from, but it goes right back where you found it!" Bryant continued, and when he saw Fernando hadn't taken any notice of him he growled in anger, his grip on Fernando's shoulder becoming tighter.

But unlike previous times, Fernando decided to stand up for himself by aggressively shoving Bryant's hand off his shoulder, surprising his father before running away. Bryant was about to chase after him when the Oompa Loompa who had been watching them moved the bus so it was blocking Bryant's view.

Bryant and the Oompa Loompa spent the next minute exchanging stern stares, that was until the Oompa Loompa reluctantly moved the bus so that Bryant was free to go and find Fernando.

"Oh great," Bryant mumbled to himself as he began to walk around, in search for his son.

Meanwhile further back into the island, Joseph Fox was currently investigating a tall tower made entirely from strawberry trifle. Just as he began to try climbing his way up to the top, Steven came up behind him with an unimpressed look.

"So your stupidity has once again come to guide you through another idiotic idea," Steven said, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

Joseph turned to face his younger brother with a smirk on his face. "Aw come on bro, turn that frown upside down and have some fun for once eh?"

Steven huffed in response.

"I bet I could get up to the very top way before you!" Joseph chanted, grinning at Steven as he spoke.

"You wouldn't get up to the top if your life depended on it, besides you're scared of heights" Steven bluntly pointed out.

Joseph sighed. "You know, maybe that blueberry girl was right about you bro" was all he said before proceeding to attempt to climb the tower. Leaving Steven to continue wandering around the island alone.

Only a few meters away Mandy Perkins could be seen rushing off towards a hut that looked to be made entirely out of gingerbread. Wasting no time in opening the door to reveal a bed that appeared to consist of butterscotch and bread and butter pudding, Mandy then shouted for her mother to come inside to see for herself.

When Judy arrived she too was astounded by what she saw.

"Mother, I want a bed just like this!" Mandy said, just as she had decided to try out the bed for comfort, which instantly gained her approval.

"But Mandy my dear, I only got you that leopard fur quilt last week," Judy said with a hint of shock in her voice.

Mandy's head whipped round to face her mother in pure irritation. "I said I want this one, and not just any old knock off one, I demand to have the real thing!"

Judy sighed as she saw her daughter stomp out of the house, knocking off a few crumbs of the gingerbread from the door as she swung it open with rage. "You always ruin everything for me!" Mandy whined, ignoring the guilty expression on her mother's face.

However, the bed along with many other things were soon forgotten about as Mandy feasted her eyes on the yellow liquid that covered the outside of the island. Her eyes widened as it suddenly dawned on her of how much of it there really was. Just as she was about to run up to the yellow liquid, Charlie who had initially walked past stopped her there and then.

"Mandy, I must stop you there, I cannot let human hands touch this substance!" Charlie exclaimed, causing her to become rather cross.

"And why not?!" Mandy snapped. Judy then made the effort to step in by gently pulling her daughter nearer to her, preventing any more arguments from taking place.

Soon afterwards the Fox brothers, the Beauregarde's and Fiona all gathered round to where they had heard all the commotion. As the little group stared between Mandy and the chocolatier, Charlie was the one to explain.

"Ok, since we're here I might as well show you my special edition to the dessert island. This yellow stuff I have right here is, in fact my Charlie custard." Charlie explained, earning a few glances in response.

So what's so special about this custard, other than the fact you've added your name to it?" Steven asked dryly.

Charlie tried his best to put a smile on his face before answering his question. "Well unlike regular custard this has the power to spell out the name of the person who comes into contact with it. Here I'll show you!"

All of a sudden the custard began to rapidly ripple for a few seconds before displaying Mandy's name in large letters, just as she had decided to take a couple of steps further to get a glimpse of what was happening. Mandy smiled gleefully as she fully embraced the magical moment.

"I want my name to come up again!" Mandy shouted once her name from the custard disappeared, transforming into spelling out Steven's name.

The blue haired boy huffed, taking no interest whatsoever.

When the custard went from Steven to Samantha, the jet black haired girl earned herself a few looks. All she did in return was let out a small smile.

But before anyone could do or say anything, shouting could be heard to the right which became louder as Bryant who had been the one shouting came up towards the little group. Groaning, when asking whether any of them had seen Fernando.

"Aw, has your little dog finally escaped from his leash?" Steven asked mockingly, earning himself a glare for an answer.

"Well, I can't say I'm not surprised" Violet mumbled under her breath.

Bryant grunted as he left to continue to search for Fernando.

"I want to try some custard," Mandy said as soon as Bryant had gone.

"And indeed you shall" Charlie agreed, "so if you all would like to come this way you may try some, providing that you use a ladle."

As Charlie dished out the ladles from a bright red bucket an Oompa Loompa had brought over, Mandy was the first one to snatch a ladle from him. Judy, the Beauregarde's and Fiona were next to take a ladle, while Steven reluctantly took one for himself with his brother following behind him.

Once everyone had kneeled down next to each other, they all dipped their ladles in at the same time. Most of them sighing with joy as the sweetness, along with the soft texture of the custard melted in their mouths.

During the time they had spent trying the custard, Eleanor was exploring the island from top to bottom. She had already tried various types of desserts which was evident by the small traces of food left on her hands. As she was skipping along she heard a small shuffling noise from the distance, being unable to work out where it came from she ignored it. Her attention turned to the chocolate brownie sand beneath her feet. Bending down to pick some up she heard the same noise for the second time, but this time closer to where she had previously been.

Now unable to ignore the noises, Eleanor took a few steps closer to where it was coming from. Once she was sure that the shuffling sound was becoming more noticeable Eleanor decided to carry on walking until it had led her to one of the Cookie dough caves.

Being brave enough to step inside, it took her eyes a few minutes to adjust to the inside of the cave, noticing the little chocolate chips standing out from the dark.

"Hello?" Eleanor called out, a little startled when she received a snuffle in response.

Deciding to take a couple of steps closer, she was greeted by a small figure which appeared to be sitting in a corner. As Eleanor made another move she then realized this figure was, in fact, Fernando huddled against the wall, with noticeable tear stains.

"Fernando!" Eleanor called, causing him to jump with fright.

"Sorry" Eleanor whispered straight afterwards, guilt invading her facial features.

"Is it ok if I sit here?" Eleanor quietly asked seconds later, earning a silent nod from Fernando.

"What are doing here alone in the dark?" Eleanor asked as she carefully sat down beside him.

"I'm hiding from my dad," Fernando said in a small whisper.

"Why?" Eleanor suddenly blurted out, placing a hand over her mouth as soon as it came out.

Fernando sighed, deciding to explain himself to her. "Eleanor, I don't get to experience the same joy as everyone else. I am confined to a life of strict boundaries and misery, all because of my dad's obsession for me to look good, no matter the cost."

"Even if that cost is your happiness and wellbeing?" Eleanor said, noticing Fernando's face crumple at the word happiness.

"Sometimes I just feel as if I'm an animal who's trapped in this cage, the cage being my father" Fernando explained, snuffling as he spoke.

"Why don't you try telling him" Eleanor suggested, earning a slow nod from Fernando.

"He wouldn't care" was Fernando's blunt reply.

"What about your mother, have you tried telling her how you feel?" Eleanor asked, keeping her voice soft to encourage Fernando to answer her questions.

Fernando silently shook his head. "She's even worse, she was the one who started this modeling business. My father was a nice man until it became our lives, he and mum often argue over it. Sometimes I listen in and it's those times when she will look at me as if I was dirt on her shoe. Once she even hit me, saying it was my fault and that I deserved it. Dad wanted to stop her, but one look from her and he changed his mind. Since then he's taken up the same attitude."

Fernando struggled to hold back a sob as a few tears slipped down his cheeks. Eleanor soon found herself wrapping him into a hug, smiling slightly as she felt Fernando snuggle into her embrace.

"I don't know how much more I can deal with" Fernando whispered into her shoulder, his breath tickling Eleanor's neck.

After staying in a hugging position for a few more seconds, Fernando lifted his head off of her shoulder and reluctantly picked himself up and made his way out of the cave. Eleanor followed soon afterwards, still concerned for him.

"Well I guess I should go find my father, I can't hide from him forever," Fernando said sadly, turning to look at Eleanor, his face the portrait of sorrow.

."You can always stay with me so your father can't hurt you." Eleanor suggested, smiling when seeing Fernando's grateful look.

"Yeah" was all Fernando could say as he suddenly tripped over. Landing on a piece of cookie dough that had come off the cave, which was splattered all over his red shirt.

"Fernando, your shirt!" Eleanor cried as she was about to help Fernando up. But when doing so she saw an unusual grin on his face. "Fernando?" Eleanor asked, unsure of what to expect.

Silently getting back up on his feet he grabbed some of the cookie dough from the cave. Shoving it into his mouth, his grin becoming even wider.

"Fernando, what if your father sees you!" Eleanor exclaimed with worry.

However, Fernando seemed to be anything but worried.

"You know what? For once I don't care" Fernando replied smugly, then all of a sudden he rushed off into the distance. Eleanor ran after him shouting for him to stop and come back.

Although Fernando could hear her, it didn't stop him from madly running up to everything in sight, grabbing as much of each dessert he came across as he could. He then stuffed it into his mouth, uncaring of the fact some went down his shirt.

"Fernando no, you'll get into trouble!" Eleanor exclaimed just as she had managed to catch up with him. Fernando turned to her before saying, "you told me I should tell him how I feel, so I am."

Before Eleanor could respond Fernando beat her to it. "I have lived under the word 'no' for years, it's time to show my father what I really think of him!" He then raced off towards where the others were.

"Fernando!" Eleanor called again while chasing after him, desperate to get to him before his father did.

The small group of guests who had been trying the custard turned their attention towards the commotion that was happening just a few meters away from them. Looking closely to what was actually going on, they could see a figure running towards them.

"Isn't that Fernando?" Samantha questioned as soon as she saw the familiar red shirt he wore.

Before anyone could answer, Eleanor could be heard frantically shouting out Fernando's name as she struggled to catch up with him. This caused everyone to shift their focus onto the two running children, some startled when seeing Fernando's messy appearance.

Once Fernando had stopped running, Eleanor nearly fell to the floor from the impact of the unplanned exercise. "Fer- nando- ple-ase- st-op" Eleanor panted out in between huge gasps for air.

But Fernando had other ideas as his eyes were soon attracted to the pool of custard. Giggling with excitement it took him no time at all to push his way in between Mandy and Joseph, before kneeling down dangerously close to the edge as he dunked his entire hand into the custard.

From within the distance, Bryant who had been looking for his son nonstop caught a glimpse of Fernando with the others eating custard.

"Fernando!" Bryant yelled as he rushed over to him, grimacing in disgust when seeing his son shove custard into his mouth.

"Fernando, get away from that vile stuff this instant!" Bryant shouted, his fists once again clenched.

"Seriously Fernando, you are way too close to the edge!" Charlie exclaimed straight afterwards. He ignored both their warnings.

Steven looked up at Bryant with a smirk. "Your dog no longer being loyal to you?" he asked in mock concern.

Ignoring the blue haired boy's comment, Bryant only became angrier at his son's act of disobedience.

"Fernando, if you don't obey me right this minute, the consequences for you will be severe!" Bryant viciously shouted through gritted teeth.

"I don't care!" Fernando shouted back, surprising his father and the others when turning to glare at his father.

"Oh and now your dog barks back" Steven scornfully chuckled, laughing more when seeing Bryant's reaction.

"Fernando- I have never experienced such a" Bryant was then forcefully cut off by his sons roared response.

"Shut up, you're always having a go at me!"

Bryant's facial expression darkened, almost pushed to his absolute limit.

"I'm warning you one last time Fernando, get back here, away from the sickly substance at once!"

Again his father's shouted out words went ignored, instead he turned to face him again with a big blob of custard in his hand. Bryant growled when noticing his son had no intentions of putting it down.

"You don't like that, do you!" Fernando yelled as he shoved more of the custard into his mouth.

Suddenly Bryant along with a few others saw the ground Fernando was kneeling on was gradually falling apart beneath his knees.

"He'll fall!" Charlie warned, worried for Fernando's safety.

However before an Oompa Loompa or the chocolatier himself could do anything, Bryant had already rushed over next to where his son was.

"That's got him worried" Judy stated, earning a few glares for herself.

"Fernando Cruz this is serious, you must listen to me when I say get away from here now!" Bryant cried, losing his patience when Fernando didn't make a single move.

"Why should I? All you care about is how I should present myself for those stupid modeling shows!" Fernando retorted.

Bryant was about to come up with a reply when the cracking of the ground became more extreme, which this time Fernando felt, causing him to panic.

Immediately afterwards Fernando began to back away, with the help of Eleanor and Fiona who grabbed his arms, leading him to safety

On the other hand, Bryant wasn't so lucky as when he made his way back to the group, the ground beneath him suddenly collapsed, causing him to fall in the custard.

"Dad!" Fernando screamed, just as Bryant had violently hit the custard with a huge splash.

Most of the remaining guests gasped in horror as they watched to see if Bryant managed to resurface.

"Aw no, he's ruined perfectly good custard now," Steven said with fake concern, all he got in return was a stern look from the chocolatier.

Stevens comment was soon forgotten as seconds later Bryant could be seen within the distance, his arms flailing around the custard with his face and body caked in the yellow substance.

"Dad!" Fernando shouted, trying to get to where his father had fallen from. But he was held back by Eleanor who told him it wasn't safe.

Suddenly Samantha started to notice something odd occurring with the custard. "Er guys what's happening down there?" She asked, getting everyone else to look around to see the pool of custard starting to vibrate.

"What's going on there man?" Joseph's asked.

"The custards moving" Judy added.

"What does it mean?" Fiona inquired.

"It's starting the whisking process" Charlie informed, just as the whisk made an appearance from the ceiling. Then in a matter of seconds, the whisk began the process of whisking the custard, meaning that Bryant was pulled by the force of the whisk

As the whisk twisted and turned, Bryant found it difficult to keep himself from going under. When the whisk finally stopped, Bryant let out a heavy gasp for air as he felt himself being lifted up by a strange force.

The groups questioning looks were soon answered as a group of Oompa Loompas could be detected lifting Bryant up onto a raft made from strawberry jam rolls. Four Oompa Loompas sat on the raft with him, while the others began to play a classical French style tune, featuring an accordion.

The remaining ones proceeded to sing and dance to the following words, some of the lyrics appearing on the custard. The group remained silent during the whole song.

_Fernando Cruz, the "cool kid" with not a single bruise_

_The son of a man who's impatient and a short fuse_

_Who seems to find pleasure in being vain_

_Only to cause himself never-ending pain_

_But we all know without a doubt_

_Without the need to scream nor shout_

_That it is you who's the utter jerk_

_No wonder the little boy went berserk._

_Looking like a starving, dull-minded seagull_

_while the thought of beauty is pressed in his thick skull_

_and with all those bright cameras flashing_

_Along with the hurtful, grating ear bashing._

_He fails at looking up to you_

_because he hates what you say and do_

_You see Bryant Cruz, your words do hurt_

_Which make this boy feel like utter dirt._

_Before you go, we must let you know_

_That Fernando's not a dog you put on a show_

_Maybe soon, you'll find the gall_

_To stop treating him like a Barbie Doll._

As soon as their song had finished the raft Bryant has been placed on snapped, causing him to once again be a victim of the custards grasp. Before anyone could say or do anything the pool of custard suddenly took a drastic turn, transforming itself into a giant whirlpool which Bryant was helplessly dragged deeper into.

Bryant's screaming was the last thing the guests heard and saw of him before the custard had eventually sucked him into where it would travel to its respective room. Just like water does when going down a plughole. The pool remained empty until a large pipe squirted out a whole new load of custard, automatically filling up the space the other portion had.

Fernando could only squeak in response, having no words to say on the matter.

"I thought we agreed on no demise songs!" Charlie hissed into the ear of the Oompa Loompa who had been stood beside him since the beginning of the disaster.

"Sometimes telling someone isn't enough, we must show them their fatal flaws in person" the Oompa Loompa responded, earning a sigh from the chocolatier.

"Alright fine, but as long as nobody gets hurt" Charlie whispered, the Oompa Loompa nodded in agreement.

"Mr. Bucket," Fiona said, "where has he gone?"

Charlie gave her and the rest of the group an apologetic look. "He's gone down to the packing area."

Just then one of the Oompa Loompas that had sung Bryant's son put on an orange scuba diving costume, wasting no time sending himself through the pipe on the other side to find Fernando's father.

An awkward silence then haunted the room for nearly a minute. "Will he come back?" Eleanor asked seconds later, breaking the horrible silence.

"Yes he will, I promise you that" Charlie replied in a more confident tone of voice.

"Perhaps he'll become a sweeter person" Violet stated, a few people turned around to look at her. Some with questioning looks.

Everyone's attention soon turned to Fernando who was sat by himself, staring at the pool of custard, rocking himself back and forth, shaking with fear.

"My dad" Fernando whimpered just as Eleanor had chosen to walk up to him.

"He'll be okay, don't worry," Eleanor said comfortingly, this got Fernando to look up her with tear filled eyes.

"I'm scared to carry on alone" Fernando admitted gently, letting out a shaky breath as he spoke.

"I'll look after you" Eleanor offered, holding her hand out to him. Fernando gave her a watery smile in return as he allowed her to take his hand into hers.

"Come on, let's get a move on!" Mandy yelled impatiently, stamping her foot to get her point across.

Charlie sighed. "Yeah okay, come, one people, we shall now be taking the around the clock dessert bus to see some very cool stuff."

While the group made their move towards the bus, Samantha let her gaze wander over to Eleanor, smiling slightly at how caring and considerate she was. It nearly made her wonder what had been going through her mind when deciding to use her kindness against her.

"Come along everyone, we still have lots to see!" Charlie exclaimed, temporally distracting her from her thoughts.

Samantha gave Eleanor one last look as she thought to herself, _maybe Fernando's found that girl._


	18. The sweet and sour

"Ah, here we are! Come along people, all aboard the dessert bus!" Charlie called out just as the guests had made their way towards the bus.

"About time too!" Mandy shouted, her arms tightly folded across her chest.

Before anyone could respond, the bus suddenly made a loud rumbling noise. The group then turned their attention to the roof of the bus that was slowly lowering itself down, to only display the seats in their places.

Charlie hummed in appreciation as he saw the guests reactions.

" As you can see this bus also has a special feature that can remove the roof top within seconds, didn't I mention that?" Charlie said with a smile on his face.

"In other words, it's one of those tacky looking tour buses" Steven commented. Charlie did his best to prevent a groan from escaping.

"Anyway as always, ladies first" Charlie then said, gesturing for the girls of the group to come forward.

Just as Eleanor had made her move to get on the bus, she was suddenly pushed aside by the impatient Mandy Perkins, with her mother following closely behind.

Judy huffed as she turned to look at Eleanor as if she was a peasant. "You heard the man, ladies first and that means Mandy." Judy said before hastily adding, "and no one shall dare to argue otherwise!" Pointing a finger to everyone else behind her.

"Yes your majesty" Steven responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm which Judy scowled at.

Soon afterward, the rest of the group made a move to get on the bus, up the stairs towards a seat. This ended up with the Perkins sitting next to each other, the Fox brothers doing the same but on the opposite side of them. The Beauregarde's sat at the back by themselves, leaving Fiona sitting by herself behind Eleanor who chose to sit with Fernando at the front with Charlie and an Oompa Loompa beside them on the opposite row.

Eleanor couldn't help but slightly bounce on the seat, calmly sighing in delight over how good the seat made out of cheesecake really was.

"Are we all ready to go?" Charlie asked before telling the Oompa Loompa driving to go ahead.

Once the bus started moving Charlie's voice could be heard echoing through a microphone, startling the group for a second before listening to what the chocolatier had to say.

"Over here are the desserts that I prefer to keep hidden for special occasions such as this" Charlie said, causing the guests to turn and look at what was in store for them.

"If you look to your left you will see the spectacular Sorbet sludge slide!" Charlie announced. The group all did what they were told to see this sight for themselves, some more interested than others.

Indeed in front of their very own eyes was a slide completely made out of Sorbet sludge, where two Oompa Loompas were seen taking turns in happily sliding down the slide. A few pieces of sludge lightly splashing the guests, some laughing while others groaned.

"Now if you look to your right you shall see the tiramisu trampoline, which may I add has more bounce to it than any other in the entire world" Charlie proudly stated.

A few from the group took the time to see the trampoline occupied by three Oompa Loompas bouncing around on it, laughing as they enjoyed seeing who could bounce the highest.

Eleanor's eyes went particularly wide as she saw how incredibly high above the trampoline could take someone in a single jump.

Eleanor then turned to Fernando whose gaze was also on the trampoline. Eleanor smiled as she patted his shoulder. "Wow, look at how high in the sky they are! Doesn't it look fun?" Eleanor enthusiastically asked, eager for a response from the quiet boy next to her.

"Yeah" Fernando nervously replied, wriggling in his seat when answering her question.

Not too far behind them, Mandy had also taken an interest in the trampoline. "Mother I want that trampoline, you better get me that trampoline!"

Judy turned to face her daughter with a tired facial expression. "Yes, Mandy" was her quiet response to her daughter's demand.

As the bus continued to gradually move around, the group were treated to various other unusual sights including a swing set made out of scones, bubble gum bubbles you could actually float around in, and a rhubarb roundabout that was faster than three race cars put together.

"And now I would like to show you one last thing before we stop" Charlie announced just as the bus had stopped in front of a pile of small square blue boxes. The strong smell of blackcurrant wafting through the air, right into the guest's noses.

Then out of nowhere little purply black fuzzy blobs emerged from the blue boxes, some making squeaky noises as they made their way towards the guests, who mostly squealed with excitement.

"Mr. Bucket, these are so cute!" Fiona stated just as a blob had jumped up on her lap, causing her to chuckle.

"Ah yes, these are my beat bullying blackcurrant blobs for those who struggle with the effects of bullying and could do with a friend," Charlie explained, smiling when seeing the groups looks of approval. Charlie then turned around to observe how each and every person reacted and in some cases interacted with a blob.

The first person he found himself looking at was Eleanor, and he knew without a doubt that she fully appreciated what was in front of her. The chocolatier didn't have to look at her for long to see his predictions had been correct.

His gaze then went to Fernando, who was more reserved with how he interacted with the blob. Nevertheless, it didn't stop him from giggling as the blob bounced on his leg, he even let out a small smile when realizing the blob was indeed harmless.

Charlie continued to watch them play with their blobs for a few more seconds before turning his attention onto the Fox brothers. As usual, Joseph had taken a huge liking towards them, on the other hand when Charlie focused his attention on Steven he didn't seem to have that usual look of boredom plastered on his face. Instead, he looked quite, bewildered at how friendly the blob was towards him. But what he didn't expect was for the blob to wrap him in its own version of a hug, however, what was even more shocking was that Steven did nothing to protest against it.

Needless to say, the chocolatier found himself gawping at what he had just witnessed as if he had just found out something about the blue haired boy, something he wished he hadn't.

The chocolatier could have almost been happy to hear Mandy's demanding voice, spitefully ordering her mother to take their two blobs for her so she could keep them as pets. The blobs immediately jumped off Mandy's lap in fear of being taken for her own pleasure, causing the bratty girl to hastily attempt to grab them as if they had no right to escape from her.

"Where are they? I want them, they're mine!" Mandy yelled, kicking the seat in front of her out of anger.

Charlie could only sigh, deciding he no longer wanted to watch any more of her tantrums. Instead, he turned his focus onto the Beauregarde's. While Violet like most of the others seemed to take an interest in the blob that was currently squeaking at her, Samantha was an entirely different story. The much younger Beauregarde seemed more interested in watching the others play with the blobs than the blobs themselves. Samantha's gaze was particularly fixed on Eleanor, her eyes darting around to watch her every move.

Before he could write anything down an Oompa Loompa patted his shoulder. "We should leave" was all he said to get a nod of agreement from the chocolatier.

Once Charlie had whistled for the blobs to return to their boxes, the Oompa Loompa next to him made a knocking noise with his foot. This signaled the driver to drive them to Charlie's chosen destination.

The rest of the journey was spent in tolerable silence as no one had much to say, apart from the occasional 'where are we going' which Charlie didn't answer, and he wasn't going to answer until the journey was over.

When the bus did slow down nearer to their destination, from the corner of everyone's eye came an Oompa accompanied by Bryant who remained coated in thick yellow custard. Fernando shrunk back in his seat when seeing his father standing on the platform, despite being unable to see his facial expression.

As the bus began to come to a halt Bryant then looked up towards it, his face no longer displaying the usual glare of anger boiling inside his eyes. In fact, it was safe to say that his high levels of rage had been replaced with deep remorse.

Within the distance whispers about Bryant could be heard.

"I see he's made a comeback" Judy bluntly stated.

"He looks like a soggy banana" Steven sniggered.

"I do hope his experiences makes him realize he must change his ways," Fiona said gently.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at our destination!" Charlie happily announced, distracting the group from making any more comments on Bryant. Charlie then gestured for the guests to step off the bus carefully. As they made their way to the platform one or two glances were directed at Bryant, which went unnoticed. While most of the group had done as Charlie said, Fernando stayed glued to his seat, breathing heavily as if he was going to pass out at any moment.

"Fernando, breathe, it's going to be okay," Eleanor said, acknowledging Fernando's quick breathing which had calmed down slightly.

Fernando then turned to look at the ginger haired girl, a look of worry plastered on his face. "I can't face him" he whimpered, rubbing at his arms as an act of comfort.

Eleanor then took a minute to glance at Bryant before turning back to Fernando. "Fernando, I don't think he's angry" Eleanor reassured before quietly adding, "he looks quite sad."

The French boy took a moment to get a good look at his father's facial expression, sighing when seeing his lost look for himself. "Do you really think he's changed?" he questioned, fear clear in his voice.

"Yes I do" Eleanor replied confidently but as equally comforting, confidence was what Fernando needed most.

Fernando hesitated for a few seconds before deciding he had done enough hiding. He then followed Eleanor down the stairs, cautiously stepping off the bus to where everyone else was standing waiting for them as if he was about to be attacked.

"I still don't see why we couldn't have just left them behind!" Mandy shouted straight after Fernando's appearance.

"Well now that everyone is here, we can carry on," Charlie said before any arguments could occur.

But just as Charlie had gathered everyone up, an almost unrecognizable small voice interrupted.

"Mr. Bucket, could me and Fernando have some time alone please?" Bryant asked, gaining the attention of everyone on the platform.

Charlie couldn't recall a single memory where Bryant had been polite towards himself or others before now. "Certainly" was all he could say in response, before leading the others to where they were heading.

Once the group had left them to it, neither Fernando nor Bryant spoke for what seemed like the longest few seconds of their lives. In the end, Bryant took a deep breath and prepared himself for something he didn't expect he would have to do.

"Tell me what you think of me," Bryant said, looking at his son who took a while longer to give him eye contact. "Come on son, I need to hear it from you."

With a shaky sigh, Fernando gave his father a sudden stern glare, now ready to take that chance. "Well, I think you're mean, cruel and nasty towards me. You're always on my back, telling me how often I mess up and how everything I do is wrong. And if you're not doing that you're having a go at me for the smallest of things, making me feel worthless like a turd on the ground."

Fernando took a deep breath, daring to step closer to his father before letting out his last admission.

"But the one thing I dislike about you more than anything else is the fact that you think it's okay to blame me for things that aren't my fault, emotionally hurt me and not show a single hint of guilt afterwards!" Fernando's voice rose with emotion within every word he spoke, his brown eyes glossy with fresh tears threatening to spill over his crumpled face.

"Fernando..." Bryant said softly, suddenly embracing his son into a much-needed hug and letting him cry into his shoulder, ignoring the squelching noise of the custard being spread onto Fernando.

"You were a kind father once" Fernando whispered seconds later, Bryant remained silent.

"But when you and mum got serious about this modeling thing, all that disappeared. In its place is a monster whose only priority is how I should look for the next magazine or photo shoot."

Bryant had now gained the courage to look at Fernando again, his own eyes not exactly dry.

"Sometimes I feel like a dog that's used only for show, then tossed away once it's no longer required," Fernando said in a barely audible whisper, in between sniffs and sobs.

"Oh god" he muttered, I don't want to be like that" Bryant whispered as he gently cupped Fernando's face with his hands. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize…" He ended up trailing off, unable to finish his sentence due to the amount of shock he was experiencing.

After spending a few seconds of trying to pull himself together, Bryant finally spoke up. "Fernando, I had no idea this was how strongly you felt about these circumstances. I have now come to realize that I am short tempered, foul mouthed and you may even say despicable. But I really didn't think it would lead to this."

"I just want to know why you treat me the way you do" Fernando replied, staring straight into his father's eyes as if to leach all the answers out of them.

Bryant let out a shaky breath. "To be honest son I guess I just let all the fame and glamor get the better of me."

Fernando said nothing, allowing his father to explain himself.

"Especially with your mother's rather high standards and precise views of how things should be. But when something doesn't go her way, things can get shall I say heated between us."

Fernando's eyes widened at the word heated. "What do you mean?" he anxiously questioned, concern now visible in his facial features.

Bryant shuddered, wiping some of the custard away from his eyes before answering his son's question. "Like I do to you, she does the exact same to me. Over time your mother's frustrations became mine which got passed onto you. It's a vicious cycle Fernando, a cycle you shouldn't have been part of!"

Fernando did a double take at his father's honesty, he then straightened himself out and looked deeply into his father's eyes.

"Don't follow in her footsteps father, I just want you to go back to the man who loved me no matter what!" Fernando pleaded, his eyes welling up with tears for the second time.

"Please don't be mad" was the last thing Fernando had to say to get Bryant to wrap him in a heartwarming hug. The kind of hug he had been missing for years.

"I'm not mad, if anyone should be mad it's you with me" Bryant replied, a tear slipping out from his own eye.

A few moments later Bryant lifted his own head up and whispered into Fernando's ear, "I truly am sorry my boy. I know sorry alone means nothing and it will take time to repair the damage I've done, but within time would you be able to forgive me?"

Silence filled the atmosphere for what seemed like an eternity, making Bryant whimper in suspense. Fernando glanced up at his father, then the floor, then back to his father who looked like a deer caught in headlights. Bryant closed his eyes as if he was awaiting a prison sentence.

"Dad" Fernando began with a shaky voice, which he soon managed to get control of. "If you promise from now on that you'll kick out the stranger with the short fuse and go back to the caring, lovely man I knew was still underneath the aggression, then I think I can."

"Yes I will my boy, I promise" Bryant immediately agreed before he and Fernando went back to hugging each other, but this time with no bad feelings.

Throughout their whole talk, the Oompa Loompa who had been driving the bus let out a small smile. Now satisfied that Bryant had well and truly learned something that would stick with him until the end of his days.

During the time Bryant and Fernando had spent making amends, Charlie had been leading the remaining guests along the corridor to look at some unexplored rooms.

"Mr. Bucket I must insist you tell us where we are going," Judy said, her sentence ignored as Charlie refused to give them any clues to where they were heading.

As they continued walking small groups of five Oompa Loompas were seen going into different rooms. The guests all looked at them then looking back at Charlie who still didn't say a word.

That was until his eyes brightened as if he had accomplished something. He then abruptly turned to the left, surprising the group with his sudden leap of action.

"Here we have the drinks den" Charlie stated, motioning for the guests to come and have a look for themselves before any questions could be asked.

The room wasn't as big as Dessert island, but it was a decently enough sized room to be able to fit a good amount of all kinds of different drinks. Some from the group sighed with relief as the feeling of thirst suddenly became known to them.

"Go on, have a drink. I can see you need it, but we cannot stay for too long" Charlie said before dismissing them off to drink what they wanted.

Judy and Fiona were the first ones to advance over to a tide pool made of green tea. Both women stayed far away from each other as possible during the time they took to drink their respective amounts.

Joseph Fox went alone to the pineapple juice pond, while Steven and Violet found themselves at the make your own smoothie lake. Mandy was happily drinking from the Milkshake streams, enjoying each and every flavor consisting of banana, strawberry, and chocolate. This left Samantha and Eleanor at the orange juice ocean.

They hadn't noticed each other until Charlie had told them it was time to move along. And when they did Eleanor backed away, rushing off to find her aunt. This left Samantha with a twinge of guilt fluttering inside her stomach.

Once they had left the Drinks den Charlie proceeded to show them some other rooms, including one that featured a swimming pool made out of lemonade, along with a hot chocolate jacuzzi.

"This is the sports room, it's not quite finished yet," was all the chocolatier had to say about that particular room.

Charlie then lead them into another room where Oompa Loompas were seen testing out brushes assembled from tiny pieces of honeycomb onto each others hair.

"Ah the blushing beauty room," Charlie said, causing some of the guests to gasp in amazement.

Steven was the only one to scoff in irritation. "Oh please, it's just any other beauty room but with a honeycomb brush."

"Actually these brushes are designed to create curls on people who wish to have curly hair, it saves a lot more time than using curlers and it lasts for over 48 hours no matter the weather or the circumstances," Charlie said in retaliation to Stevens comment.

"Where can I get one of these?" Judy asked as her daughter silently looked at her with interest.

"Limited edition" Charlie quickly replied, before leading the group away from the beauty room towards a brown door which didn't appear to have a label. Before any inquiries could be made about the mysterious door, the chocolatier proudly told the group this was the room he had been keeping quiet about.

No one said a word while Charlie took his time to carefully open the door, to reveal what was hiding behind the other side of it. "Brace yourselves," the chocolatier said as an unexpected amount of noise filled the group's ears.

Intrigued by what could be causing the excessive amount of noise, the guests rushed into the room to find a large variety of animal split into groups carrying out various tasks.

When the group looked around the room in awe Charlie soon put their minds at rest as he explained each group's responsibility.

"Over here we have the rabbits that make raisins for my ripe or rancid sweets" Charlie began as he pointed over to a group of rabbits shaping the raisin sweets with their paws, then tossing them into two separate tanks.

"Why use rabbits, can't Oompa Loompas do it?" Violet asked, earning herself a lighthearted chuckle from Charlie.

"Rabbits are required for the job as they are the only animals that can master the exact shape."

"What are these ripe or rancid sweets for?" Samantha asked soon afterwards, displaying a look of interest.

"Well they are like the bean boozled sweets, but these sweets can tell if a person has a good or bad personality. If they have a good one they get a ripe sweet, if they are bad they get a rancid one, it's quite simple really."

Samantha hummed, looking down at her hands in the process.

Charlie then went on explaining what a couple of other animals did until Bryant and Fernando had entered the room, the custard on Bryant's clothes having dried.

"Ah so good of you to join us" Charlie greeted, earning smiles from both Fernando and his father.

The Oompa Loompa standing with them gave Charlie a slow nod as if to say, that's one achievement so far.

Charlie weakly smiled in response just before turning his attention back to the Cruz's. "I have just been showing everyone how the animals help during production" Charlie explained.

"It's quite nifty if I say so myself" Bryant replied as he took a look at what they were doing for himself.

"You've changed your tune" Judy bluntly stated, frowning at Bryant's new attitude. Taking it in his stride Bryant shrugged off Judy's comment.

Eleanor them made her move to stand next to Fernando. "See, I told you he'd change," she said with a smile which Fernando happily returned.

"He sure has" Fernando agreed, letting himself be taken to be informed on what he had missed.

However, their conversation was soon interrupted when the sounds of shouting could be heard within the distance. When the shouting continued, one of the guests was soon able to spot something.

"Where's Mandy?" Samantha questioned, looking at everyone as she spoke as they soon noticed her absence.

"Mandy? Mandy!" Judy called out, receiving a shout in response.

"I believe the shouting is coming from our right" Bryant added, causing everyone to run towards that direction.

"Mother!" Mandy shouted again just as she along with the others had arrived to where her shouting was coming from. "Look at these hamsters!" she cried. Joy filling her eyes as they darted around each hamster that were twice the size of normal ones, spinning on hamster wheels in open cages, popping out small stripy brown sweets from the sides of the wheels, a few from each spin they took. The sweets were then carried onto weighing scales which determined if a humbug was to be boiled for usage or crushed if it didn't meet the required standards.

"I see you found the humbug hamsters," Charlie said to a beaming Mandy. "These hamsters produce humbugs at an astonishing rate of ten humbugs every five seconds, which is the required speed to be able to have a steady production line."

Mandy then turned to her mother, the beam from earlier replaced by her usual demanding look. "Mother, get me one of these hamsters I must have one."

Judy looked up at the hamsters who were still busy with their work, she then looked back at her daughter. "But darling, you have many other pets which are just as remarkable as these hamsters."

Yes but I don't have a hamster that makes humbugs!" Mandy retorted, her patience already beginning to wear thin.

Charlie winced at Mandy's tone of voice while Judy sighed. "I tell you what I promise to get you a hamster as soon as we get home," Judy said, desperately trying to compromise with her daughter, who wasn't having any of it.

"Did she just say no to Mandy?" Fernando whispered to Eleanor who nodded in shock.

"I don't want any old average hamster, I want one that makes humbugs. You of all people know that I deserve the very best of the best!" Mandy commanded.

Judy tried the compromising tactic one last time. "Mandy sweetheart, why don't we just move along and I'll get you the very next thing you want." Unfortunately, it was at that moment where Mandy decided to put her mother in her place.

"You listen to me you old hag! I didn't get my Oompa Loompa, I didn't get my dessert bus, I didn't get my butterscotch bed and I didn't get my blob. And now you're telling me I can't have one humbug making hamster!" Mandy roared.

Judy opened her mouth, only to let out a faint squeaking noise were words should have formed. Unfortunately, Mandy's demands weren't up for discussion as she took another angry step towards her mother, her dangerous facial expression glaring right into Judy's soul.

"I'm only asking for one hamster for heaven sake! One thing, JUST ONE FLIPPING THING!" Mandy screamed.

"Alright, I shall get you one right now" Judy replied with a hint of irritation, before racing down to where a ladder was placed below a hamster cage. Then in a matter of minutes, she was climbing up the ladder, showing no signs of stopping despite Charlie's numerous warnings.

"Mrs. Perkins, I strongly advise you not to go up there it's extremely dangerous, not to mention just a bad idea in general!"

Judy refused to acknowledge the chocolatiers words as the thought of getting her daughter that desired hamster filled her mind. Within seconds Judy somehow managed to get to the platform of the hamsters open cage, smiling slightly at Mandy's orders to grab it.

Doing what she was told she continued to ignore Charlie's increased warnings of potential disasters. Instead, she, witnessed by the others from the group, along with a few Oompa Loompas attempted to grab one of the hamsters which had stopped spinning in its wheel and looked at her with wide eyes.

"Judy, I beg you to get down, before it's too late!" Charlie yelled, pushing his way past several Oompa Loompas standing near him.

Judy shook her head,"not until my Mandy gets what she wants!"

Then at that moment when she managed to get the hamster by the tail, it jerked back from the impact of being touched, before it along with many others suddenly ganged up on Judy who was defenseless.

The hamsters then proceeded to team up against Judy as they began to swat at her with their large paws, causing her to fall backward, struggling to get back up. The hamsters soon took advantage of this as they all charged towards her, ready to knock her off her feet.

The last thing Mandy was able to see was her mother being forcefully thrown off her feet, losing her balance completely before disappearing entirely.

All the guests watched with loud gasps as they witnessed Judy being tossed off the edge of the platform, some closing their eyes when seeing her fall. However, nobody was as horrified as Mandy, this was shown when she let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"MOTHER!"


	19. Learn and behave

"Mother!" Mandy screamed for the second time, her screams earning her nothing in response.

Within an earshot, Mandy could hear the other guests whispered concerns behind her.

"Where did she go?"

"Will she survive?"

"Oh, I hope she doesn't get hurt!"

As she listened to each and every one of them a stomach wrenching feeling suddenly made itself known, causing discomfort for the little blonde girl.

Without warning Mandy suddenly charged towards the ladder, only to find herself being pushed back when placing a hand on the side rails.

"Don't, it's too dangerous!" Charlie warned, giving her a serious glare. A glare she wasn't used to receiving.

"Come on sweetie" Fiona encouraged, gently pulling Mandy away from the ladder. The blonde girl looked up at her then Charlie, her facial expression the portrait of fear.

Just then an Oompa Loompa walked up to the chocolatier, who bent down until the Oompa Loompa was able to whisper something in his ear, pointing his finger to his right. The group watched with bated breath as the suspense got to them.

All of a sudden Charlie rushed over to where the Oompa Loompa had been pointing towards, the guests soon followed him to discover the dreadful scene in front of them.

Pushing her way past the terrified guests Mandy's eyes widened in horror at what she saw. Unable to say a word, Mandy, along with the others helplessly watched as Judy was seen hanging onto the edge of the platform, shouting for help while the hamsters scratched at her hands so she would let go and fall into the crusher beneath her. The clanking noises the crusher made didn't help the situation whatsoever.

"Somebody help me, please!" Judy pitifully begged, keeping her eyes squeezed shut, unable to even dare to look down.

"We need to help her!" Eleanor exclaimed, looking towards her auntie in fear.

"She will be crushed into smithereens," Steven chortled soon afterward, grinning at the very thought of it. In return he received a handful of unamused glares, some even shook their heads in disgust.

"Don't you ever know when to stop!" Violet snapped, in response, Steven grunted accompanied by an eye roll.

"Well don't just stand there, do something!" Mandy shouted over the arguing, her blue eyes as cold as winter when glaring at the group before focusing on Charlie, who was discussing something with a rather large group of Oompa Loompas.

Mandy was about to yell at him to actually do something when she heard distant talking coming from her left. It wasn't long before the culprit was exposed.

"Bit late to care isn't it" Samantha grumbled, instantly gaining Mandy's expected attention.

"What do you mean by that!" Mandy spat, slowly walking up to Samantha with a fierce facial expression.

"Oh let me see" Samantha sarcastically began. "Mother I want this, mother I want that. No, not that one, it's not good enough for a prissy princess like me!" Samantha's imitations of the smaller blonde girl only angered her more.

"How dare you, nobody within the likes of you should talk to someone as important as me in such a disrespectful way!" Mandy scolded, the younger Beauregarde laughed at her expense.

"And that's exactly your downfall," Samantha replied, who had unintentionally caught the attention of one of the Oompa Loompas within the large group.

Mandy tilted her head in confusion before growling out of anger. "If you are somehow attempting to lower my expectations for someone who's practically a peasant under my foot, you are mistaken!"

The rest of the group could only listen in to the mini argument, despite a couple of the adults trying to break it up. Both times proved to be unsuccessful as the two girls rebelled against their attempts.

"Ok, if I'm such a peasant then why are you wasting your so called importance on me? Yeah, very logical" Samantha sneered.

In response, Mandy took a couple of steps closer towards the jet black haired girl with a dark scowl. "You will regret insulting me you pathetic little worm!"

"Oh I'm sorry, did I offend you by telling you the truth about yourse-" Samantha was suddenly cut off mid sentence as all the lights went off, leaving the room pitch black. After having to adjust to the new setting, it was the sight of the crusher that stood out from the rest, which seemed to have gained volume within the past minute.

While trying her absolute best to ignore the ear-grating noise of the metal bars inside the crusher smacking against each other, Mandy looked over to where her mother was still holding on to the edge, hoping for the slightest chance she would be able to rescue herself.

However, her hopes soon began to wear thinner than before when the devastating sight of what she was holding onto began to disintegrate. To add to the unpleasant situation, pieces from the edge of the platform that did crumble off descended into the jaws of the crusher, making Judy cower in fright.

"Please, someone help me. I don't know how much longer I can hold on for!" Judy exclaimed in a panicked voice, sending alarming chills down her daughter's spine. "Ow!" she yelped seconds later as the hamsters who had appeared to stop with their attacks returned at full force, making it crucial for her to keep her grip on what little remained of the edge of the platform.

During the time Judy spent shouting for help, the chocolatier and the Oompa Loompas had appeared to have put their discussion to a close. Mandy wasted no time in stomping over to them, demanding for them to save her mother along with the hamster she still craved to have.

You'd have thought throughout this drama she would toss away all thoughts of getting what she wanted in order to help her mother, Samantha thought to herself, wincing slightly if it had been her mother instead of Judy.

Taking a look around the room Samantha soon found herself to not be the only one having doubts. Standing right in the middle of all the action since the reveal of Judy's possible fate, Eleanor and Fernando was engaging in their own conversation in between their guardians.

"Why aren't they helping her?" Fernando whispered to Eleanor who hushed him when noticing something in the distance.

"Look over there," Eleanor said, nudging Fernando's shoulder to get him to look in the same direction. "Someone's moving" she added, Fernando, nodded in agreement, proving her to be correct.

Suddenly the sound of faint drumming, along with a shrill whistling sound echoing across the whole room signaling the hamsters to get back to their stations distracted everyone from what they were focused on. As the drumming became louder by each beat, four Oompa Loompas them made their way to stand in front of Judy who was still clinging onto the edge. The rest then gathered around Mandy with a bright spotlight shining on her, causing her to whimper just as they burst into an English style rock song.

_The mean little urchin, Mandy Perkins,_

_is always searchin' for something lurkin'_

_Once she sees it, she demands it now!_

_And she just simply doesn't care how._

_She would do anything for something nice_

_But in the end, was it really worth the price?_

_Especially with her mother's life_

_Quite literally under the knife._

_Can't you see the reflection in the mirror?_

_If not, I can quickly make this clearer:_

_You are yourself, but with greedy, evil eyes_

_It doesn't take much for the viciousness to rise._

_You demand for things that are fancy and fine,_

_but all that luster will lose all its shine._

_You throw a tantrum when things don't go your way_

_So here is a message that's here to stay:_

_Your mother will never be your slave_

_So we hope you learn to behave_

_or else the end of your happiness will draw near_

_and that smile on your face will soon disappear._

At one point in the middle of the song two Oompa Loompas had brought out a mirror in front of Mandy, which displayed her reflection but in a demon form with evil red eyes. Mandy cringed at the sight of it.

Once the song came to an end and the lights had coincidentally come back on, Judy felt the edge of the platform she was holding onto finally snap. Screaming as she fell she was soon caught by the same large group of Oompa Loompas, who held out their hands to break her fall.

"No!" Judy yelled before realizing that she was in fact in the arms of many Oompa Loompas. As her eyes widened in a mixture of shock and relief she was soon lowered onto her feet.

"I'm never doing anything like that again!" Judy bellowed as she was brought back to safety. Her voice shaky, and her body trembling violently while being lead by Fiona and Charlie to sit by the wall to calm herself down.

"Oh, my days" Judy whimpered, wobbling slightly when taking her time to sit down.

As she was handed a drink from next door the guests let out sighs of relief from the fact that Judy was now safe and sound. They then went into mini conversations as they waited for the chocolatier to tell them where they would be going next.

However, unlike the rest of the gang, Mandy was unbelievably stunned into silence, having not said a word since the beginning of her song.

Judy, on the other hand, had plenty more to say.

"I could have been crushed into ashes!" Judy shouted, tears glistening within the inside of her glossy eyes. She tried to speak again, but nothing apart from a squeak could be heard from her lips.

"Hey," Fiona said in her naturally soothing voice, "it's alright now, you just calm down love."

Judy gave her the tiniest sad smile in return, which Fiona took as a silent thank you. Fiona then sat beside Judy, giving her comforting rubs on her shoulder that seemed to relax her despite, the occasional snuffle.

Watching how her auntie was reassuring Judy, Eleanor then turned to glance at Mandy who shared the same look as a puppy that had just received a hard kick. Deciding to focus on her for a moment longer, she could instantly spot a remorseful look creep up on her facial features.

Walking up to the unusually silent girl, Eleanor gently touched her shoulder as if to say you know what you need to do. That was all she needed to encourage Mandy who soundlessly looked up at her before brushing past Eleanor towards the still shaky figure of Judy Perkins.

"Mother?" Mandy asked quietly while timidly walking up to her mother, her voice barely above a whisper. Judy slowly looked up at her distraught looking daughter, sighing softly when bowing her head back down.

"I'm sorry" she mumbled, her attempts at holding back the pool of tears desperate to roll down her cheeks didn't go unnoticed by Mandy.

For a few seconds, Mandy could only gawp at her mother before saying something that took the others by surprise. "No, I- I' should be the one a-apologising" she stammered, high levels of emotion clear in her voice.

Mandy then did the same thing Fiona had minus the comforting rubs. The greed that had once occupied her eyes vanished, having now been replaced with the sorrow from the harsh reality of her actions.

Struggling to look at her daughter all Judy could do was bit her nails anxiously, taking deep breaths as she tried to find the right moment to speak. Mandy was more or less in the same position, that was until she decided to be the one to break the awfully painful silence between them.

"Mummy, I don't like seeing you upset" Mandy admitted before quietly adding, "please talk to me." Judy didn't say a word, instead, she continued to stare at her hands as if she had no clue what was going on.

Realizing that the conversation wasn't going anywhere Fiona decided to step in with a few words of her own. "Judy, I have wanted to ask you this for a while, is there a reason you spoil your daughter the way you do?"

Within seconds of asking Judy's head snapped up to look at Fiona then her daughter before sighing in despair as she prepared to explain herself. "I- I'm not like most parents" was all she could say without feeling the strong urge to burst into tears.

"How?" Fiona softly asked, gently encouraging the older woman to let out whatever she was wanting to hold in.

"Well look at me, I'm barely the youngster I was many years ago. I was forty years old when I had Mandy after many failed attempts, and even then as a baby, I struggled to meet her needs. For instance, when she had just started crawling, I couldn't crawl around the room with her like any other parent would because I would experience back pains and get tired easily."

Judy cleared her throat before carrying on. "It didn't get any easier as she got older. I remember this one time I took Mandy to the park and there was another young girl who was playing with her mother, she must have been in her early twenties. Because I wasn't able to run around with her for too long, I just sat on the bench and watched Mandy happily play by herself. However, the mother of the other child soon noticed me not playing with her and stated that I should be interacting with her instead of using my age as an excuse to be lazy."

Mandy gasped at the impact of what her mother was revealing, but there was more to come.

"That wasn't all she said. She also told me that if my old age was holding me back I should give Mandy to someone who was younger and more able to look after her!" Judy's eyes filled with tears for the second time, a sight her daughter couldn't bear looking at. "That memory left me with a type pain that no back ache could ever square up against. It was also that very moment where I made it my mission to give my Mandy what she deserved, but in alternative ways."

Fiona and Eleanor both gave Judy a look of sympathy, while the other guests showed some understanding of where she was coming from. Even Samantha's facial features softened when listening to Judy's story.

"But now at the age of fifty, I find myself nearly unable to even do that anymore." This was the last thing Judy had to say to earn a rather unexpected reaction from her daughter

"I don't need you to buy me loads of expensive things!" Mandy protested, shocking the others who were listening in on them. "I just want us to be a happy family not matter what people think."

Looking up at her with some sadness still noticeable in her eyes she managed to whisper out a fearful sentence of, "is that what you truly want?"

Mandy silently nodded, lightly leaning her head against Judy's shoulder as she snuggled into her embrace. Judy then wrapped her arm around her daughter, to fill in for the unspoken words that weren't needed.

During the whole time, Charlie and the Oompa Loompas had spent watching the Perkins they both shared an accomplished smile, before coming to the decision that it was time to move on.

"Right people I think we've stayed here long enough so let's get moving!" Charlie announced, gesturing for the guests to follow him to the door. Once everyone including Fiona and Eleanor who helped the Perkins up from where they had been previously sat gather round the chocolatier and the Oompa Loompa standing next to him, Charlie proceeded to lead them out the room and along a corridor.

During their walk, Mandy couldn't help but look behind to where Eleanor and Fiona were happily talking to each other. Then almost instantly her mother caught sight of her daughter gazing at the Mais. "Go talk to them, I don't mind," Judy said, earning herself a thank you as she watched Mandy rush off towards the Mais.

"Hey" Mandy greeted when tapping Eleanor's shoulder. "I just wanted to say thanks for earlier, and I owe you an apology for all the times I've been rude to you today."

Eleanor gave the smaller blonde girl a thankful look. "Apology accepted " was her simple reply, leaving Mandy with a sense of relief.

Their conversation temporally came to a halt when Charlie wanted that the area they were about to walk through was one of the coldest parts of the factory. Seconds afterwards they had indeed entered the cool area, it was then Mandy noticed Eleanor shiver slightly that put a thought into her head.

"You must be cold in that cardigan" Mandy stated, "why don't you borrow my coat?"

Eleanor who seemed quite surprised at Mandy's suggestion could only shiver more as she tried to find the words to decline her offer. But Mandy had practically made the decision for her as she voluntarily took off her coat and waited for Eleanor to take it.

"You can wear it for the rest of the tour if you like?" Mandy offered, placing her coat into Eleanor's hand who politely accepted it.

"Thank you" Eleanor replied, noticing Mandy's smile growing wider when putting on the tiger skin coat around herself. Shortly afterwards Mandy skipped off to catch up with her mother.

Samantha who had gone unnoticed by the other two girls let out a warm smile of her own when seeing the obvious difference Eleanor had helped make to the formerly bratty girl. Another reason how she was the perfect person to be Charlie's heir.

While most of the group continued to talk amongst themselves Charlie and an Oompa Loompa were in a conversation of their own. "Another job well done?" the Oompa Loompa questioned.

The chocolatier took a glance at the Perkins, a pleased look spreading across his facial features when nodding with agreement. However, their feelings of achievement were soon put behind them when Steven could be heard mumbling various insults mostly to do with how he wouldn't fall victim to their pathetic tricks.

Charlie and the Oompa Loompa turned to look at each other as if to say, _we still do have challenges ahead of us._


	20. Bottled up behind the mask

"Charlie Bucket, could you tell us where were going?" Judy asked once everyone had left the cold room.

Charlie turned around to face the group with an excited grin. "All I'm going to say is what I'm going to be showing you will blow your minds!"

"How exciting" Steven muttered before anyone else had the chance to react. A couple of stern glances were directed towards the blue haired boy, who carelessly shrugged them off.

"Well, I think it will be interesting" Mandy said which instantly put the chocolatier in a better mood.

"Oh, it will be" Charlie confirmed.

As they continued walking most of the group were talking amongst themselves, occasionally speaking to others outside their respective families. This continued until the group found themselves at an unexpected dead end.

"Mr. Bucket, I have to point out that we seem to have stumbled across a dead end" Bryant stated.

Before Charlie could reply Steven beat him to it. "Well done for stating the absolute obvious" he bitterly commented, tutting at Bryant's slightly surprised reaction.

"Bro" Joseph muttered as he nudged the younger Fox brothers elbow. "Don't be so rude man."

Steven turned towards his brother, imitating his previous sentence in a crude high pitched voice.

Oh no, this isn't a dead end, we just have to go through here" Charlie interrupted so that the current conversation couldn't progress any longer.

Pushing open a passageway that was connected to the wall, Charlie held up a hand in front of the group to prevent anyone going through.

"I should warn you this particular corridor is full of twists and turns," Charlie said just seconds before the group was quite literally thrown into their warning.

Suddenly the area they walked across span while twisting and turning at an incredibly fast speed. For some, they could feel the air harshly rushing through their ears as they continued to be tossed into various twists and turns until it finally came to an end. The abrupt halt caused everyone to skid into each other.

During the short time, the guests were bumping into one another, Steven was the one to take an extra push as he ended up face flat on the floor. Beside him a framed object appeared which he was quick to grab, aggressively shoving whatever it was back into his pocket.

"What are you looking at!" Steven snapped when catching a glimpse of Fernando who seemed to be chuckling at him, even though he was doing no such thing.

"Here we are people, I knew we would get there in the end" Charlie stated with excitement clear in his voice.

Once the guests had managed to reclaim their sense of balance the chocolatiers excitement showed as he rushed towards a large silver door, appearing to have quickly recovered from the earlier mishap.

"Where are we?" Violet asked, being the first one to advance towards the silver door with the rest of the group following closely behind her.

Charlie took a few minutes to reply as he was twisting the combination for the safe lock that was placed where a door handle would usually be. He then turned towards the group with a friendly grin spreading across his lips, "prepare to feast your eyes on this."

As the door clanked open the guests walked inside one at a time to find themselves in a room that resembled a TV store. TV screens could be found in nearly every inch of the room. Some were clamped on the walls, placed on desks and a couple could be spotted hanging from the ceiling. However, what really stood out from the rest were two canons standing either side of the huge screen on the desk, that were filled with tiny multicolored sweets.

"May I have the pleasure of introducing you to the shooting stage!" Charlie proudly announced, earning a mixture of curious looks and questioning gazes.

"What is the shooting stage for?" Fiona asked, intrigued by the sights of the room.

Joseph tutted at her as if she was stupid. "It's for shooting stages of course!" he exclaimed in a flustered manner. Almost insulted that she had asked such a question.

Charlie nervously sighed. "Er no, not quite Joseph, you see this actual room is similar to a room Mr. Wonka had shown me when I went on the tour over forty years ago."

"What room?" Eleanor and Samantha asked at the same time, creating unwanted awkward tension between the two.

"Well, when Mr. Wonka showed me around the factory he took me and another boy called Mike to the television room which he called Television chocolate, his invention had the ability to teleport objects such as his own Wonka bars into the television. He had to make the Wonka bars ten times bigger so they would come out normal size. "

Most of the guests remained silent as they took their time to absorb the incredible information, well all except one.

"Garbage, what utter garbage!" Steven blurted out, sending the chocolatier a death glare.

"I beg your pardon?" Charlie asked, pretending he hadn't heard him.

Steven scoffed with annoyance. "You heard me. No one in the world could possibly invent something as complex as a teleporter."

"Well Mr. Wonka could and he did" Charlie replied, secretly enjoying the little argument mostly due to the fact that he was right.

"Prove it" Steven challenged, causing the guests to divide their time to look at Steven then Charlie.

"Unfortunately, I cannot show you the television room today as some major updates are being made to it as we speak" was all Charlie had to say on the matter.

"Update, my backside " Steven mumbled darkly, while the others instantly brushed it off

"Anyway, let me tell you how this room got to be how it is today " Charlie began, gaining mostly everyone's attention.

"You see, once I had seen just how incredible Mr. Wonkas Television chocolate really was I decided to test my own inventing skills. And after years of planning all the possibilities I came up with the idea that if Mr. Wonka could use television as a method of teleportation, then I could create something similar but involving computer games."

Joseph's eyes suddenly widened to the size of saucers at the mention of computer games, just as a hyper young child's would. Charlie was unable to hide the grin escaping from his lips as he proceeded to explain his idea in more detail.

"So, using the idea of teleportation I was able to come up with a few gaming ideas from preexisting games " Charlie began, walking up to the television screen which displayed a computerized Oompa Loompa being shot. "My personal favorite is this shooting game I'm currently working on."

"Shooting games are my favorite type of all time!" Joseph shouted out, making a few of the others jump.

"Is that what these canons are for?" Fernando asked, earning himself a smile from the chocolatier. But that wasn't the only reaction he got.

Rolling his eyes with irritation Steven gave Fernando a fierce glare. "In case it's escaped your notice, canons are for shooting. Perhaps if your intellectual capacity was higher than one of a squashed tomato you would have figured that out."

Fernando whimpered at the harsh remark. Bryant gently pulled his son towards him, a frown on his face directed at the moody blue haired boy.

A few of the others raised their eyebrows while Eleanor gave Steven a worrying look.

"Yes, the canons are indeed used for the shooting, but they don't just shoot any old bullets. Instead, these cannons fire rainbow candy bullets, in the shape of nerds" Charlie said as he pulled out a tiny round rainbow sweet from the bottom of the cannon, which he then placed in the palm of his hand so the guests could see it in full detail.

"And the brilliant thing about these is when you shoot them they go through the television screen, just as a pretend bullet would in a game. Plus they won't harm your television screen either. But once I have made the finishing touches these canons will be much smaller than what they are now ."

"So you can play these games involving the use of sweets? I must say that's quite an interesting concept you have here Mr. Bucket," Bryant complimented.

"Oh please," Steven muttered as he turned towards Bryant in disbelief. "I think you're confusing the word interesting with the word dull, but then again it's easily done when your the man who mistakes his brain for his backside."

"What!" Bryant spat in response, he was about to add something until Fernando softly patted his shoulder, fear displayed in his facial expression.

"Dad please" was all he needed to say to stomp out the anger from Bryant. "I apologize son" he guiltily whispered seconds later.

Charlie cleared his throat to grab back the group's attention. "Indeed you can and one thing I forgot to mention was these cannons have little holes inserted at the top so you can spy on the enemy, as well as be able to see what tactics they are going to use and how to avoid them!"

"Nice one man!" Joseph said, gleefully clapping his hands.

"On the other hand that's not the only the project, I'm working on" Charlie continued, pointing over to where a small pure white machine with a long leather red chair was placed in the right- hand corner.

"Although, I must say this isn't quite what you call a game."

A majority of the group gave the chocolatier confused looks. "Well, what it is then?" Violet asked, having been the only one out of the group to speak up.

Walking over to the mysterious white machine Charlie gave it a light tap on the top, seconds later the machine began to give off a faint yellow glow before going back to its original color.

"This my dear guests is my one and only mind machine," Charlie explained, tracing his fingers along the left- hand side of the mind machine.

"Oh my word, I must see this!" Joseph exclaimed, pushing past the others so he could be the first one to take a look. "Mario would be proud," he whispered under his breath as he traced his fingers along the red leather chair in front of the mind machine.

"You really are sad aren't you?" Steven sneered, grunting at Joseph's hurt ridden facial expression.

"Mr. Bucket, what does the mind machine do?" Eleanor quietly asked, putting up her hand as if she was at school.

Charlie smiled as he explained its use. "The mind machine is specially made to be able to know and get whatever candy you are thinking of just by using your mind."

"Woah" Eleanor responded in awe, a few of the others nodded in agreement. But as usual, a certain member of the group didn't seem impressed.

Instead, Charlie decided to use a different approach.

"In case anyone would think I'm lying, who wants to try it for themselves?" Charlie asked, slightly exaggerating the enthusiasm in his voice.

In less than a second, a whole load of excited shouting could be heard from the group. "Joseph, why don't you have a go," Charlie said, pointing at the older Fox brother before going over to lead him to the red chair. Joseph did a triumphant fist punch to celebrate his victory.

Leaping onto the chair, Joseph flipped his ponytail behind him as he wriggled in the chair to get comfy.

Taking a deep breath Charlie walked over to stand behind Joseph who was drumming his fingers with excitement.

"Now you must sit back and empty your mind of all thoughts" Charlie began, only to be interrupted by Steven.

"That won't take much then" he jeered. Joseph winced slightly at his brother's rude remark, while Charlie tried not to take much notice.

"Close your eyes and picture the first thing that comes to your mind" Charlie continued to a much calmer Joseph. Then all of a sudden the mind machine began to make a low pitched humming noise before anyone could comment on what was going on a tray like feature came out of the corner of the machine. Just as a printer would, the object Joseph had thought of was displayed on a silver tray, which kept coming forward until the candy was placed in Joseph's hand who had opened his eyes to see the magnificent sight.

"Holy peaches, it read my mind!" Joseph exclaimed as he examined the dark chocolate bar in his twirling hand.

"Oh please, I bet all that happened was Charlie slipped any random candy that just so happened to be what you wanted into the machine. Any thicko can pull that one off" Steven snapped, giving the chocolatier a harsh glare.

"Steven you should just embrace how incredible each and every one of Charlie's inventions really are," Eleanor told him, unprepared for his snappy response.

"If I happened to be some poor gullible sap then I might just as you say embrace it. However, I leave such things to people who aren't fortunate enough to inherit a perception of common sense."

"Common sense shouldn't have anything to do with it. After all, candy doesn't have to have a point, that's why it's candy " Eleanor replied.

Her statement made a small smile appear on the chocolatiers lips, this only lasted five seconds before it was swiped away by Steven's voice.

"Yeah? Well, explain how any of these so called inventions add any value to the world whatsoever." Steven said before adding in a sharper tone, "next you'll be telling me my gibbering imbecile of a brother adds some sort of minuscule value to the world."

Looking over to the right, Joseph could be seen happily getting stuck into the shooting game, occasionally yelling out one- word phrases while totally unaware to what was being said.

Eleanor sighed before saying, "all I'm trying to say is you don't need to point out everything that's supposedly wrong with all of Charlie's creations. Instead, you could try focusing on the positives like I do."

The snarky boy snorted humorlessly. "Yes well, a swotty suck up dweeb like you would" Steven snapped at the ginger haired girl, who couldn't say or do anything in response. Not that she needed to.

"I must say, I find you to be an extremely rude and unpleasant young boy!" Judy exclaimed, placing her left hand on Eleanor's shoulder as an act of comfort. Appalled by the blue haired boy's behavior.

"Sucks to be you then doesn't it" Steven sneered in retaliation, smirking at Judy's gobsmacked expression.

However, Judy wasn't the only one who had something to say on the matter.

"I too can no longer contain myself from saying how disrespectful you have been towards everyone," was the serious statement from Bryant.

"You haven't exactly covered yourself in glory when it comes to making a good impression " Fiona added, but in less of a rude way.

"Neither have those whining brats!" Steven retorted, viciously pointing to where the other kids were standing.

"At least were being polite now, all you've been doing is being nasty to everyone," Mandy said, folding her arms as she spoke.

"Oh really, how?" Steven challenged, which the others seemed to accept.

"Laughing at me when I was about to fall into that crusher!" Judy shouted, which soon got the others going.

"But you didn't did you!" Steven retorted, snarling at the older women as an attempt to maintain his firm facial expression.

"And saying that my head should be shoved in the chocolate river" Mandy commented.

"Yes well-" Steven was abruptly cut off from finishing his sentence, something that sent a shock to his system.

"Not to mention punching my son multiple times in the face!" Bryant added.

By this time Steven was well beyond his boiling point, but not even he could have expected what was about to happen.

All of a sudden Mandy made her way towards Steven until they were literally face to face. "You know what you are? You're a cowardly, heartless, messed up jerk!"

Steven rolled his eyes even though her words were clearly getting to him.

Fernando, despite the silent warning from his father soon did the same. "Mandy here is right, you're a nasty piece of work and a despicable bully. No wonder nobody likes you!"

Everyone turned to look at Steven, who's defensive look crumbled at the ending of Fernando's sentence. "I am not!" the blue haired boy spat, his voice wobbling slightly.

"Everyone please, leave him alone, you're upsetting him!" Fiona shouted over all the others comments, trying to get them to leave the boy in peace.

"Are you being serious?!" Violet scolded, now adding to the insults thrown at Steven who gave out a look of loss on how to toss them away. "You have been insulting us non- stop since this the tour began, and now that your getting a taste of your own medicine you can't take it!"

At this point, even Charlie had wanted to intervene, however, one stern glare from an Oompa said otherwise.

Violet turned towards Fiona in shock. "Leave him alone? Have you not heard or seen anything he has said and done today? He deserves to be told how much of a nuisance he has been, and not only that, he needs to get it into his head that just because he's unhappy with his own life doesn't mean others have to suffer with him!"

Steven looked over to his shoulder towards his older brother hoping he would at least say something to defend him. To his disappointment Joseph remained playing the game involving the skittle sweets cannons, seeming oblivious to what was happening around him. Steven the turned back to face the others, with a hint of moisture in his eyes which didn't go unnoticed.

The room then fell into a deafening silence. Everyone's eyes were frantically gaping at Steven, who despite trying to open his mouth to say something, no words made their way from his lips. Only a feeble squeaking noise could be heard after what seemed like a million years.

The silence was soon broken when Samantha took her chance to speak. "That's shut you up hasn't it?" Samantha hissed. She then added, "not even you can justify the fact that you're a bully" in a much darker tone of voice. One that seemed to freak the blue haired boy out.

Mandy mouthed the word bully from behind Samantha's back, standing at just enough of a distance for him to see it nice and clearly. This made the blue haired boy cringe.

"You don't like that word, do you?" Samantha snarled, "bully."

"Quit it," Steven said in a much quieter voice, one the others weren't used to hearing.

"Bully!" Mandy said, this time having chosen to vocalize her words.

"Bully" Fernando joined in, causing more upset for the other boy.

At this point, Steven no longer had the ability to try and defend himself. Meanwhile, all Eleanor could do was watch the drama unfold in front of her in chanting form.

"Bully!"

"Bully."

"Bully!"

Then he finally snapped.

"Stop saying that, stop it, JUST STOP!" Steven roared, kicking one of the huge cannons that caused many objects in front of it to topple over. Soon nearly the whole room became a victim to Stevens rage as everything came tumbling down onto the floor, leaving the room with only the mind machine and the shooting game Charlie had previously shown them still standing.

"Bro, what was that for?" Joseph angrily questioned, having now pulled himself away from the game. Unfortunately, he wasn't going to get an answer as at that moment the cannon that had been forcefully kicked suddenly aimed itself in between the Fox brothers. Then out of nowhere a loud high pitched noise flooded the group's ears just moments before millions of nerds were shot towards Steven, who let out a muffled panic filled scream.

Closing their eyes to prevent themselves from having to see what had just happened, the guests soon opened their eyes to see Steven had vanished. With only the nerds piled up in his place.

"W-where's he gone?" Joseph stammered, looking around the room like a headless chicken.

He was soon provided with an answer as Steven suddenly appeared on the TV screen with two Oompa Loompas, but in a computer game setting. None of the guests could mutter a word when Steven was unexpectedly pushed into a digital cage, wincing as the door slammed shut loud enough to make the room shake a little. At first, the terrified blue haired boy tried to squeeze through the small gaps in between the bars of the cage door, after realizing he wasn't going to get anywhere he reluctantly gave up.

A group of four Oompa Loompas then grabbed Joseph by the shoulders, shoving him down onto the red chair he sat on before. He was swiftly turned around to face the screen as if he was a school kid about to be told off. The frightened older Fox brother could only sit in silence as a classical western themed song began to fill out the atmosphere of the room.

_Steven Fox, the mean, snappy, sarcastic boy._

_He has a silver tongue, and yet has no joy._

_But could there be something else behind the mask?_

_No one knows; they've never taken the task._

_It takes a lot to make someone so vile_

_and bring them to madness after a while_

_Could it be hate? Could it be rage?_

_Could it be a man of a different age?_

_Joseph Fox, the gamer who plays non-stop_

_Who has the awareness of a sad, wet mop_

_Oblivious to what reality brings home to him_

_and it tears them apart, limb by limb_

_You need to realize, you young, foolish man_

_Link isn't the one to do the job you can_

_Kirby can't inhale the words made of knives_

_and Mario can't protect him and give him extra lives_

_It's rather sad when someone doesn't help._

_Why weren't you there for him, you whelp?_

_Now he has lost his mind and self-control,_

_because the torment has taken its toll._

Immediately after the song ended Steven was tossed out from the screen, landing with a thud on the floor beneath Samantha's feet. Watching as the blue haired boy scrambled to get back on his feet, the younger Beauregarde couldn't help but notice something different about the formerly snappy boy.

Reaching forward towards him Samantha was unexpectedly pushed backward, nearly landing on her backside. By the time she was helped up by her mother, Steven had run off.

"Did he just push you?!" Violet shouted, glaring daggers to where Steven had been struggling to get up.

In response, Samantha slowly shook her head as if lost in her own thoughts. After a while, she came out with an unusual answer. "He did push me. But he didn't do it to hurt me, he did it to get away from something..." Samantha trailed off her sentence, unable to finish it. This left the others to deal with a mixture of confusion and shock.

"Speaking of which, where did he go?" Bryant inquired, stepping in front of the Beauregarde's to see if he could spot the shaky blue haired boy.

Soon afterward the rest of the group began to search for Steven, that was until muffled incessant talking was heard from outside the room. Accompanied by the sound of frantic footsteps tapping against the factory floor.

"He went out here!" Charlie called, running after the boy when spotting him from the corner of his eye.

As the guests joined Charlie in running after him, the terrified American boy began to run with increased speed as if to stay one step ahead of them.

"Steven wait!" Eleanor yelled, hoping to grab his attention, but before they could manage to catch up with him he had already found the entrance to a room next door. With a loud bang the door was slammed shut and locked, his heavy breathing and the sound of his foot kicking the wall was heard coming from his side of the door.

"No, he's locked the door" Charlie sighed, putting his hands on his head in frustration.

"Oh, great" Mandy mumbled in response.

"But the question is, what's causing him to act like this?" Bryant asked, drawing everyone's attention to think about his question.

"Maybe it's something none of us know about" Eleanor suggested in a small voice.

"Nobody acts like that without a reason " Judy agreed.

At that moment all eyes were on the older Fox brother as everyone turned around to look at Joseph, who tilted his head in confusion. "What?" he asked, having no apparent clue on what was going on.

"Joseph, has Steven ever said or done anything at home that tells you something going on in his life is affecting him?" Charlie asked in a serious tone, for the first time wanting to find out more about the blue haired boy.

When all Joseph could provide him with was a shrug, there were some disappointed moans amongst the group. "Of course he doesn't know" Violet muttered under her breath. Unknown to her Joseph had heard her.

"Do you lot think this is easy?" Joseph suddenly questioned, his voice rising in pitch. "I'm sorry I don't know what's going on, I'm sorry I'm a complete idiot who doesn't understand things like you lot do, I'm not a parent!" Joseph wailed.

"Hey, hey calm down." Bryant calmly told the panicking Joseph. "Why don't me and you have a chat, man to man."

Sniffling loudly it took Joseph a minute or so to calm himself down enough to accept his offer with a quick nod.

While Bryant lead a distressed Joseph along the corridor, a sudden idea popped into Eleanor's head.

"Steven," Eleanor said, quietly knocking on the door. "Is it alright if I talk to you?"

"No," came a shaky reply from the other side.

"Please let me in!" Eleanor pleaded. When her pleas were met with silence she decided to try again. "You know talking helps, not everyone's intentions are to hurt you."

"That's what they all say" Steven replied in a bitter tone, kicking something judging by the muffled banging sound.

"Have I hurt anyone today Steven?" Eleanor asked. This got the blue haired boy to truly think it over.

From inside the locked room, the sound of kicking stopped and heavy breathing calming down a little, instead, a soft sigh replaced the violent anger. "Just you, no one else?" He suspiciously questioned, fear crystal clear in his voice.

"Just me" Eleanor confirmed. The sound of the door clicking open sent feelings of relief to Eleanor's stomach, immediately afterwards Eleanor crept inside, softly shutting the door behind her. All the others could do was watch and listen with bated breath.

Once Eleanor had entered the room she was greeted by the sight of various boxes of things scattered across the room, while others were in a messy heap on the floor. To her slight surprise, a pair of glasses were also found tossed to the left-hand corner, bending down to pick them up she shoved them into her pocket for the time being.

Wanting to be careful of what she trod on she slowly approached the blue haired boy who was slumped against the wall, hiding his head in his hands while clenching them. He then looked up at Eleanor with unusually sorrow filled eyes, before looking back down at the floor.

"Is it sad when you get hurt so much you can finally say you're used to it?" Steven asked, surprising Eleanor with his unexpected question.

"What do you mean?"

"The best way to not get your heart broken is to pretend you don't have one," Steven said, now giving Eleanor proper eye contact through bleary eyes.

Before she could reply, Steven beat her to it. "Whoever came up with the saying words will never hurt me was right, instead, words can kill one's spirit ."

All of a sudden it finally dawned on her. "You're bullied?" she asked, her question making Steven wince as if he'd received a burn.

"Simply because I don't fit into society's expectations."

"Who says that?" Eleanor inquired, sitting down next to him and clasping her hands together as she listened to Steven talk.

"Well let's just say there are many culprits who believe this to be true, hence the existence of my thrilling experience" Steven began with sarcasm dripping from his voice. " It started off with the persistent hurling of various words that began as harmless name calling. Then it progressed to the physical stage, the seemingly never-ending punches, pushes and kicks all directed at my self-esteem. And when the first two stages get into action there comes the social rejection, the rumors, the online taunting and of course those who witness, yet choose to do nothing to make someone's suffering cease. All because I'm not as one would deem normal."

"Didn't you tell someone?" Eleanor asked, having to stop herself from nearly crying.

Steven scoffed. " I who in my temporary state of mind loss confided in someone I believed I could trust. Big mistake. Those involved in my daily torture were called in to have a meeting with me. Sure, accusations were denied and apologies based on false feelings were made, but in the long term nothing went resolved and the woman conducting this thought everything was done and dusted. She was right, it was all over. For her."

Steven had to take a moment to blink back tears as he continued to talk. "That very moment the clock struck three I was confronted by every force that wanted to strike me down. They wasted no time in displaying their mighty wraths at full power, leaving me to pick up what little dignity I had left to my name."

Having no clue on what to say Eleanor remained silent until Steven chose to speak again. " But do you know the one thing that pained me even more than my eyes after my justified punishment? It was when the same pair of eyes later witnessed the lack of notice displayed from the people I'm supposed to trust with my life."

Eleanor tried to speak, however, all she managed to do was open and close her mouth just as a fish would.

Unable to hold back the flood of emotions any longer Steven let out a loud pitiful scream of anger, his body shaking heavily, allowing a stream of tears to escape his eyes. While all Eleanor could do was watch without the faintest idea on how to help him. A simple apology couldn't cure his suffering nor convince him that one word would suddenly repair the damage.

Those who had been listening to what Steven had been telling Eleanor from outside the room felt a stab of sympathy for the boy, even if they didn't say it aloud. In fact, they were so caught up in their own thoughts, no one noticed Samantha making herself scarce.

They were soon snapped out of their thoughts when a little squeaking noise came from around the corner. Once it was discovered that it was one of the anti - bullying blobs the guests had met earlier, they then watched as the blob shuffled its way towards the door before traveling through it.

Eleanor was first to acknowledge the blobs startling presence as it continued to shuffle itself towards Steven until they were face to face, triggering Steven to let out quieter sobs. Jumping up onto the blue haired boy's lap, the blob pressed its face onto his as if to wipe away his tears of remorse.

Making sure to gently cup the blob in his bare hands he put it back down onto the floor just before turning towards Eleanor, who had stayed silent throughout the past five minutes. Deciding it was the right time Eleanor took out the glasses she had picked up previously, carefully handing them over to Steven who gracefully accepted them.

Positioning his glasses he finally gained the courage to speak up. "Sometimes I just wish I can fast forward time to see if it's all worth it in the end. But I can't. And that's the harsh reality of it, the same reality I cannot escape from the clutches of, no matter how much I cry or how sorry I feel for myself. So to make it seem the tiniest bit better, I make it someone else's reality."

The blob whimpered in reaction to Stevens honesty.

"Think of it this way" Eleanor began, not sure where she was going with this when taking Steven's hand into her own and rubbing it. "If people are trying to bring you down, it only means that you are above them."

"Because pushing someone down will never help me reach up to the top" Steven finished off with realization. Earning an impressed look from the kind hearted girl.

"You have quite a way with words haven't you?" Eleanor questioned, a hint of a smile appeared on the blue haired boy's lips.

"It's the only way I've kept myself from going completely berserk" Steven admitted before adding, "but from now on I shall use my gift of words in a positive light, starting by apologizing to those I've hurt."

He was then wrapped in a hug from the bully blob, squeaking as it nuzzled itself into his chest.

"You're a strange little thing" Steven chuckled, picking up the blob that was sitting in the palm of his left hand so he could stroke it with his other hand. "But I could get used to your company."

The blob wibbled with appreciation before jumping up onto Stevens shoulder who shared a smile with Eleanor.

During the time Eleanor had spent with Steven, Joseph was receiving his own little private talk with Bryant. Once both men had found somewhere to sit, the older man began the conversation.

"I appreciate the fact you're not a parent, and I know that you and your brother have a strained relationship, but that doesn't mean it can't be fixed."

Joseph gave him a puzzled look. " He hates me" was all he could say before letting out a defeated sigh.

Bryant shook his head, "no he doesn't, he's probably given his trust to many people, only to have it stomped on. Besides, I should know, I've done the same to Fernando's for god knows how long."

"B-but you and him have already made up, Steven would never want to have a brotherly relationship with me," Joseph replied, Bryant softly tutted at him.

"You'll be surprised. I mean take what happened with me and Fernando for instance, it took him a long time to confess his feelings to me, to express his thoughts and to show me the insecurities he faced. Although it took a while for it to all come out in the open, eventually it did. Steven will do the same once he's been proved his trust is firmly held in the right hands."

"Really?" Joseph asked, astonishment present in his tone of voice.

Bryant gave him a silent nod in reply just as Charlie added from around the corner, "I bet you anything that behind all the insults and the sarcasm is a boy who's craving for a stable brotherly bond that he can rely on."

"Yeah" Joseph agreed determinedly.

"He needs his big brother" was all Bryant could say as an interruption occurred.

Samantha who at first said nothing ran across the corridor up to Charlie, gesturing for him to bend down so she could whisper something into his ear. A few seconds later Charlie allowed himself to let out a little smile, "actually Joseph I think your chance at proving yourself has come sooner than you think."

Charlie was given no time to explain the rather sudden plan as he ushered Joseph and Bryant to wherever this plan was going to take place. "I'll inform the others" Samantha announced just as the three men left.

"Guys!" Samantha called out to the remaining guests still standing outside the door, "Charlie wants you all to meet up from where we left off." Once they had left to find Charlie accompanied by an Oompa Loompa, Samantha knocked on the door to get the other two's attention.

"Steven, there's something remarkable that you must come and see. There's nothing else like it, honestly, it will blow your mind!"

At first, Steven was hesitant to even reply, however one persuasive look from Eleanor changed his mind. Go on Eleanor mouthed as she made a move to stand up with Steven and the blob following closely behind.

Having unlocked the door both kids were met with Samantha's reassuring smile as she guided them to where the others were gathered round. When arriving back to the shooting stage the TV screen which had been used to show the shooting game using the cannons was active, but the screen only displayed the three following words.

Victim

Hate

Alone

"What is this?" Steven questioned without any sarcasm involved.

Charlie couldn't help but grin when giving Joseph a nudge to explain it's purpose. "This Steven is to help you resolve a few things."

"You called me Steven instead of bro" was all his could say, astounded at how much his brother seemed to have grown up.

"Why don't you two stand behind the cannon" Samantha suggested, lightly pushing the Fox brother over towards the mentioned object. Seconds later the cannon with the blob on top moved itself into a position to shoot at the word victim on the screen, "shoot it" Samatha instructed to Steven who smiled in return.

With a press of a button, the cannon then shot the nerd bullets into the word victim, making it instantly disappear into thin air. As the cannon then turned towards the word hate, Steven hesitated less when having to shoot it. However, when it came to the final word Stevens sense of confidence began to crumble.

"Steven" Joseph whispered into the younger Fox brothers ear, "you're not alone and you never have to be again, not now not ever. We can shoot this demon together."

Afraid of the slight possibility he would tear up, Steven took a deep breath as he and Joseph both placed their hands on the cannon to maneuver it into place. "Ready?" Joseph asked, just as the others began chanting the phrase shoot as their way of proving Josephs words correct.

Now certain he had the guts to do it, the two Fox brothers steadied their aim before closing their eyes and yelling out, "FIRE!"

At that moment was when the room filled with cheers, as the joy of seeing the word alone blown up into a million pieces tugged at each and every person's heart.

Looking up at his older brother, Steven mouthed an appreciative thank you as moisture twinkled in his eyes. The blob wibbled with excitement just by watching the two brothers build up a bond.

Meanwhile, throughout this cheerful time, Samantha's eyes trailed over towards Eleanor, who surprisingly gave her a look back, not in the spiteful way she knew deep down she truly deserved. Then it returned, the burning sensation of guilt within the pit of her stomach.

With the need of distraction required, Samantha took one last look at Steven with his brother before going over to join the others for the sights still to see.


	21. Second time around

Watching the Fox brothers have a proper conversation for the first time, a smile tugged its way across the chocolatiers lips that showed the pride which words alone could not express.

Looking down at his watch his eyes widened slightly before calling everyone to gather round. "Alright people, I think you have pretty much seen all there is to see of the factory. However, there are just one of two final things I would like to show you before we reach the end of the tour."

"It's sad this tour is nearly over, but at least we have one more adventure ahead of us!" Eleanor responded, earning a few nods of agreement.

"Quite right, so on we go!" Charlie confirmed, pointing forwards for the group to follow him.

As the group walked along the corridor to the last room, Charlie couldn't help but listen in to the various conversations amongst the guests. Appreciating just how far they had come along since within the first hour they had all met.

From behind he could hear parts of a conversation between Mandy and Eleanor, with Judy and Fiona talking respectively. Fernando and his father were also having a chat, along with Steven and his brother. Even Violet had spoken a few words here and there.

But the real surprise was when Violet had walked over to Charlie, the first time since the incident with the squirrels. "Violet?" he asked, not entirely sure what the purpose of her appearance was.

"Charlie I just wanted to apologize, I now understand why Mr. Wonka gave his factory to you." This was all she said, along with a light-hearted smile before returning back to her daughter.

Unable to say a word in response Charlie could only look back at her with his mouth slightly hanging open. Shaking himself out of his thoughts he then focused on what was ahead of him, but this wasn't the only apology commencing within the area.

Steven who had admitted to Eleanor he wanted to change his ways spotted Fernando in front of him. As his mind replayed all the times he had viciously picked on and insulted the French boy, he then walked up to Fernando despite, the fearful fluttering sensation in his stomach.

Patting the French boy on the shoulder, Steven mentally winced when noticing Fernando jump at the blue haired boy's unexpected arrival.

"Er, hi?" Fernando questioned suspiciously, backing away slightly that made Steven wince for the second time. Before it could turn into an awkward silence, Steven decided to come out straight with it, whether it was to be a success or not.

"Look, Fernando, I have recently come to the realization that I've been insulting and hurting others based on my insecurities of my own life, and in particular you have been the main victim of this. So I guess all I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry." Steven stammered, sighing heavily when finishing his sentence.

"It's okay," Fernando replied, causing a look of bewilderment to appear on the American boy's face.

"You're going to forgive me just like that?" Steven asked, evidently shocked that Fernando hadn't told him to get lost, or even remotely mocked him in any way.

"I'm not one to hold grudges, after all, nobody's perfect ."

"Quite true, so are we friends?" Steven asked, the fluttering sensation returning.

"Yeah," Fernando confirmed, sending tingling vibes through Steven's chest.

"Cool thing, Nando."

"Nando?" Fernando questioned, raising an eyebrow at the newly given nickname.

"Yeah, Nando, like the food?" Steven explained to a very confused Fernando.

"Don't tell me you've never been to Nando's, only an idiot would-" Steven had to pinch his arm to regain himself. "Sorry," he muttered seconds later, earning a sympathetic smile from the other boy.

"Actually, I would be interested to hear about Nando's," Fernando encouraged. Steven let out a sigh of relief.

"You, my friend shall now be told about the true beauty within Nando's." He then placed an arm around Fernando's shoulder as they walked and talked simultaneously.

Meanwhile, Charlie and the Oompa Loompa that had accompanied him since the beginning of the 'lessons' were in a conversation of their own.

"Another success to add to our list?" questioned the Oompa Loompa with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Indeed it is," Charlie replied with a wider smile.

The Oompa Loompas smile soon transformed into a frown. "However, we cannot start celebrating as of yet."

Charlie didn't need informing on who the Oompa Loompa was referring to, as he turned to briefly look at the Beauregarde's.

"I know," Charlie replied with a miserable sigh.

All the Oompa Loompa did in response was give the chocolatier a look which said, you leave it to me.

Before Charlie could question his worker's motives he and the group arrived at their destination.

"Ah now, this is what I wanted to show you" Charlie began, having to put his recent conversation behind him. "This right here is the pick and lead sweet dispenser, each colored sweet opens a different room."

Steven who was closest to the dispenser was then gestured to pull the handle below his hand, seconds later an orange colored sweet appeared on the palm of his hand.

"Ah, you got an orange sweet which leads to the sharp tongues room," Charlie said as he took the orange sweet from Steven, then throwing it at the door which opened straight afterward.

"Is that a metaphor for me?" Steven chuckled as the group walked in the room, a few of them laughing with him.

"You're not the only one there kid," Bryant commented, looking down at his son who gave him a weak smile in return.

"Try one," Charlie said as he passed the tongue-shaped sugar coated sweet to Bryant, who hadn't tried anything during the tour. Having accepted the sweet he placed it onto his own tongue, then seconds later Bryant noticed his tongue going numb as the felt the sweet beginning to fizz inside his mouth.

"My tongue's gone numb and it kinda hurts," Bryant said, his speech difficult to understand due to the intense tingling sensation increasing within each and every second.

"Well that's because this sweet is designed to do this when a person is rude to you or someone else, this lasts only a few seconds, but afterwards the person will be in so much shock they will want to watch what they say in future," Charlie said, grinning as he explained the sweets purpose.

"It gives the phrase words hurt a literal term," Charlie added, before leading the group out of the room from the door, opposite to the one they had come in through. They were then brought back to where the sweet dispenser was. "Now, why don't we have an adult pick this time?"

The adults in the group all looked at each other before deciding Fiona was to chose the sweet. Just as Steven had, Fiona pulled the handle, only this time a yellow sweet made it's way out and into her hand.

"Oh good, I was hoping a yellow one would fall out," Charlie said, repeating the same action he had with the orange one.

"This is one of my favorite products in the entire factory," Charlie happily stated, turning towards the group as they took in the sights of at least three machines producing a powdery substance.

"What is this stuff?" Judy asked, only inches away from touching the powder, which Charlie had to stop her from doing by gently pulling her away.

"This room produces what Mr. Wonka calls spotty powder, and the purpose of this is when a child consumes it they will look like that have caught chicken pox or some other illness," Charlie explained, Judy looked at her hand in response.

"I have to admit, that's kinda clever" Steven complemented with a warm smile. An action that made the chocolatier experience warm feelings of his own.

"That's exactly what I said to Mr. Wonka," Charlie said without realizing, a slight hint of awkwardness following soon afterward.

Shaking himself out of his embarrassment the chocolatier then added, "Anyway, we must press on to wherever the sweet dispenser takes us."

"Samantha, why don't you have a go," Charlie said once they were stood in front of the sweet dispenser for the third time.

"Alright," Samantha replied quietly as she walked up to the sweet dispenser to get the next sweet. When the sweet popped out Samantha gave it a look of disgust as the color of it was blue, she then hurriedly slammed it onto the chocolatiers hand as if it had some sort of disease.

Once the group were all in the room the blue sweet lead to, the guests all gave Charlie confused looks as they greeted to a large, light blue wobbly square-shaped object that took up most of the room.

Before anyone could ask any questions Charlie who instead of explaining the purpose of the product as he usually would, gestured for one of the Oompa Loompas in the room to step through it. However, as the Oompa Loompa did as he was told, he ended up getting stuck right in the center of it.

"And this people is the exclusive Jello wall, made completely out of jelly!" Charlie said with excitement clear in his voice.

"And before you ask, this Jello wall is designed to keep your siblings at bay. So if they are annoying you or you just want some time to yourself, all you have to do is squeeze this little jello block."

Charlie then presented the small blue block of jello he got out of his pocket, to the group who immediately took an interest.

"When you press the block it automatically creates an edible jello wall in between you and your sibling, not only does this keep them occupied as they can eat their way out of it, but it also gives you around one to two hours before they can bother you again."

"I wish I had something like this when I was a kid," Fiona chuckled.

"The best thing about the Jello wall is that they can be used at any required time as they don't fill you up" Charlie added, enjoying the looks of amusement from the group.

"Now we should press on, there's still one more thing I must show you," Charlie stated as he and the group left the room.

However, when they had returned back to where they started for the fourth time, Samantha seemed to be miles away as she noticed something from the very corner of her eye.

"What is she doing?" Fernando whispered to Eleanor who was wondering the exact same thing.

"I don't know," she whispered back, advancing over to the chocolatier to inform him about Samantha's odd behavior.

But before Charlie could react to Eleanor's warning, Samantha had already made her way into the room followed by a pair of concerned Oompa Loompas.

"What is this room?" Samantha bluntly asked as soon as they arrived, her eyes focused on the long machine which had many conveyer belts with various kinds of sweets, letting out puffs of smoke in all different colors.

"This room is where sweets go to get their color," Charlie said with a hint of nervousness in his voice. The younger Beauregarde's eyes took on a sudden look of interest.

Continuing to stare at the machine she noticed a set of white little drops enter the machines grasp, only seconds later to come out again but fully covered in color. Samantha's eyes then widened in immediate astonishment as a thought of realization entered her head.

"Hey Charlie," Samantha began rather abruptly, sending rather worrying chills down the chocolatiers spine. "Would you say that this machine is capable of turning anything into any color one desires?"

"I suppose so," Charlie said with hesitation, having to force down a lump developing in the back of his throat.

"Or to reverse it if an accident happens?"

Again Charlie hesitated, eventually having to resort to a simple nod in replacement for his lack of speech.

"So if I was to say for example the color of someone's pigment, would it work?" Samantha questioned as she looked over to her mother, grabbing her hand and leading her to Charlie, despite trying to object against her daughter's idea.

"Er, I really don't think …" Charlie trailed off his sentence as he came face to face with Violet, guilt burning in the pit of his stomach.

Before she could do anything Samantha took a step closer towards him, her dark brown eyes boring into his lighter blue ones. "Just yes or no."

"Well it could but I-"

"But what!" Samantha barked, "if it can change the color of your sweets, then why can't it work for my mother!"

"This machine isn't designed for humans, and even if it was it wouldn't be possible to change your mother back, due to her pigment being blue for so many years."

"Besides we don't know if it would be safe," Violet added, earning herself a grateful look from Charlie. However, the younger Beauregarde wasn't going to give up easily.

"So you're telling me that you're okay with the fact my mother was horrifically transformed into a blueberry by that maniac Willy Wonka, but your not willing to repair the damage by one simple move is that right?!"

For the first time throughout the whole tour, the chocolatier was unable to think of an answer to her demanded question. As his anxiety levels went up so did Samantha's level of rage.

"Final chance scumbag, are you going to help my mother or not!" Samantha snarled, her fists clenched as if preparing to punch him if he put a foot wrong.

"I cannot," was all Charlie had to say for himself, mouthing a sorry to Violet in the process. Unfortunately Violet wasn't the only one to notice.

"Sorry? Sorry! Sorry means nothing, it doesn't change anything!" Samantha roared.

Then all of a sudden Samantha grabbed one of the trays used to carrying the sweets once they had got their color, she then viciously threw it against the wall to express her seething anger. The sound of the tray slamming the wall vibrated across the floor underneath the guest's feet, and while most were able to duck, Eleanor found her arm colliding with the corner of the tray, knocking her off her feet and onto the floor with a hard thud.

"Ow!" Eleanor cried, rubbing her arm to soothe the pain. But when a few people gathered round to make sure she was ok, her injury wasn't the only thing the group was startled by.

"What is that beside her?" Bryant inquired, pointing to a white object only a few meters away from where Eleanor had landed.

"It's a sweet of some sort," Judy stated.

As a few more guests walked closer to where the sweet was, an Oompa Loompa squeezed past them to pick up the object for themselves. Twisting his hand to identify it the Oompa Loompas shot Charlie a worrying look when realizing what it was.

"It's the three-course meal chewing gum, the one with the glitch," the Oompa Loompa confirmed.

"But how did it get there?" Charlie questioned, his voice louder than intended.

"It fell out right after that tray hit Eleanor," Steven provided.

"That means..." Charlie didn't dare to finish his sentence as he took in everyone's surprised gasps.

At that very moment, all heads were turned to Eleanor, who was standing with her aunt, who along with Judy had helped her up. Looking at each and every person she mentally winced as some guests were whispering amongst themselves, even Fernando had taken a step away from her when it dawned on him what was going on. A few minutes had passed until the chocolatier spoke up.

"Did you take my gum, Eleanor?" Charlie softly questioned. A mixture of shock and sadness in his voice. Eleanor silently nodded in response.

"I- I was j- just so interested in wanting to help you fix it, Charlie. I didn't intend to take it and was going to give it back. B-but after I got sent to the old sneezes and smells room I forgot about it, and now I've caused chaos! " Eleanor remorsefully admitted, bowing her head down as if she was a dog that had just been caught trying to get their owners food.

"Oh, Eleanor," Fiona sighed in response.

"Actually you haven't" was the rather sudden reply from Samantha who stood directly next to Eleanor, with a somewhat disturbing gleam in her eyes and a dark tone to her voice as if she had thought of a plan B.

Unfortunately, she wasn't wrong.

Hastily snatching the gum from the Oompa Loompas hand by aggressively pushing him to the floor Samantha held it up in her hands for everyone to see, making sure Charlie got the best view out of them all.

"Since you refused to fix the damage that vile Wonka did to my mother, along with Eleanor so kindly supplying the goods, why don't I take the opportunity to show everyone a recreation of what happened over forty years ago."

"No," Violet firmly stated.

"Yes! Can't you see I'm trying to help you, mom! If he won't put things right, I shall take it into my own hands and become a blueberry myself to ease your suffering!"

"No, Samantha please, no!" Violet squeaked, "Charlie please do something!"

"Don't bother mom, he had his chance to help but he didn't take it, and now he's going to regret ever saying no to us." Samantha spat, shoving the gum into her mouth to prove her point. Violet hid her face in her hands, unable to bear witnessing her daughter's last moments of normality.

"Oh my god," Violet whimpered with tears glistening in her eyes, while the others watched with bated breath.

Once she had chewed the gum a few times, Samantha ensured everyone was able to know exactly what was going to happen.

"Samantha don't do this!" Violet shouted without warning, the younger Beauregarde ignored her.

"First on the menu is the terrific tomato soup, I must admit I would have preferred it to have been chicken. But I guess it's all a matter of taste," the younger Beauregarde sternly stated, refusing to look at her mother or anybody for that matter.

"Samantha Beauregarde, stop!" Violet yelled again, with an added amount of major urgency. Again she went ignored, much to her mother's increased dismay.

"Oh, now we're moving on to the beef, again I'm more of a chicken person as it has a softer texture," Samantha continued, which sent her mother into more of a panicking frenzy.

"Please no," was Violets softly whispered plea as the dreaded moment crept closer towards her daughter.

"And here comes the killer," Samantha said as an introduction to the final part, laughing humorlessly just moments before the final part tickled her taste buds.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I shall now leave you to witness the luscious grand finale of the infamous blueberry pie and ice cre-"

Samantha was then suddenly sharply cut off her sentence as Violet came charging towards her, just as an angry bull would.

"SPIT THAT OUT!" Violet screeched as she grabbed her daughter by the shoulders, not releasing her grip until her daughter unintentionally spat out the gum, which then got forcefully kicked across the floor until it was out of her reach.

"Mom!" Samantha cried in response, a mixture of anger and sadness within her eyes.

Violet didn't say a word as she tightly cupped her daughter's face in her hands, to see if there were any traces of blue forming on her facial features. "Thank God!" Violet pitifully sighed, letting out sorrowful deep breathes as she let herself collapse on her daughter's shoulder. The miracle of her daughter being unmarked by the blueberry having caught up with her, physically as well as emotionally.

"No, no! Where is it!" Samantha snapped, pulling away from her mother's embrace. "I need that gum, come on, I need it back!"

"No you don't, not because of me," Violet yelled, trying to talk sense to her daughter.

Samantha feebly shook her head. "Mom, I'm not doing this to upset you I'm doing it to help you. That's all I've ever wanted to do for you, be there for you. To ease your suffering like I said."

Then at that very moment, Violet found she couldn't hold herself together anymore. As she let herself burst into tears, Samantha along with the group all looked towards her. A few seconds later Violet decided to do something she should have done earlier, for her daughters sake more than anyone else's.

Wiping her eyes Violet took a deep shuddering breath, before addressing everyone in the room. "When I was my daughter's age all I cared about was winning and nothing more. During the tour I was determined to do whatever it took to defeat the other kids, no matter the cost. Even if the cost was on my behalf."

It took a few choked out sobs in order for Violet to continue. "That cost was supposed to be a life lesson for me, but all it seemed to teach me was how to live in constant anger along with the desire for revenge. Though I do think part of it had something to do with the way my mother saw me after that life changing day. Since that day I never saw even a glimpse of normality, everywhere I went I was mocked, called names. There was even this cruel inside joke made about me, the other kids used to buy blueberries just so they could stamp on them, and when they did they used to say 'oops I trod on a Blueregarde'.

Violet took a moment to glance at Samantha, who didn't dare look up.

"To think the agony of my humiliation outside my house was enough, the internet soon became infested with all sorts of mortifying, shamelessly drawn pictures of me. There was one in particular that triggered an emotional breakdown within me, and to put it bluntly, it was a picture of me in my full blueberry form with my mother standing beside me, but in a county fair. Although upsetting as it was to catch sight of, it did make me wonder if, despite everything I was going through, I could come out of this as a winner."

"Then what happened?" Charlie asked with genuine interest, keen to know what had happened to make Violet vocalize her life story.

"Well as you know I went to live with my aunt Peggy for a while to gain a better peace of mind, but even she couldn't do anything to stop the constant swing of obsessive thoughts of wanting to get even running through my head. When I did eventually leave, I thought I was going to be able to have full control of my life, oh how wrong I was. I ended up meeting this man called Colin during one of weekly food shops, who didn't seem to care that I resembled a smurf. We got talking, went on a few dates and before I knew it I was pregnant with Samantha. However, it was all too good to last, Colin ditched me the day I went into labor, he said he didn't want to have a child with me nor did he even want to be with me, he apparently only asked me out because he felt sorry for me."

"Oh, Violet I-" Charlie tried to intervene, but he was soon cut off.

"All those times I spent with Colin the thoughts that had haunted me since the tour disappeared, but only when I was with him. Though once he left those thoughts came back with a vengeance, with many more alongside them, each with their own negative impact. By the time Samantha was eight years old even she could tell I was depressed, so I told her everything she could have understood at her age, which was a lot more than I thought. After that Samantha became my protector in a way that Colin was never able to come close to, it felt great to have someone who finally understood the many issues I faced, as well as someone being willing to help me in any way she could."

"So when the word of another contest spread across the world, was this when you thought this is your moment to get your own back?" Eleanor asked, her tone sincere and understanding.

"Yes, it was," Violet responded, quite baffled that she had figured it out without needing to tell her. If she was honest with herself it was quite a relief. Nevertheless, she still had more to say.

"As I saw the number of tickets being found one by one at a faster rate than previously, I thought it would just be another fluke, me once again getting my hopes up for absolutely nothing. But the moment I saw the flash of gold in Samantha's Wonka bar it was as if a ton of weights had been lifted off my back, I could visualize myself performing the payback I had been craving more vividly as I counted down the days to the tour date. Yet in order for my plan to work, I had to dispose of the competition, meaning you lot."

Violet waved her hand towards the group in an awkward motion.

"That's why I did what I did to you all" Samantha added, joining her mother in coming clean about her actions. Violet smiled at her daughter's input.

"So it turned out you were right Charlie, the Beauregarde's had returned without showing any regard."

Charlie sighed in defeat. His mind replaying to when he and Violet were just kids, the way her over the top levels of confidence was displayed just on how she spoke to him. However, now that confidence had disintegrated into the harsh lack of self-worth she'd been forced to carry with her for so many years. Now she had gained the nerve to express her misery, what she needed more than anything was empathy, just as he had shown towards the others.

Silently watching Violet walking over to stand behind her daughter, Violet then placed her hands on Samantha's shoulders. Taking a deep breath, Violet once again turned to face the group. Although it was Charlie's attention, in particular, she wanted to grab. When seeing her attempt proved to be successful she quietly said, "I was so lost in hatred and the urge for revenge, that now I've passed it onto my own daughter."

This time it was Samanthas turn to cry, Violet squeezed her shoulders as an act of comfort. But it was nothing compared to what she was about to do.

"Charlie," she began as she took a couple of steps towards him. " I don't expect my daughter to become your heir, or for me to even be allowed outside the doors to your factory again. But all I ask is for forgiveness, for when I was an obnoxious moron towards you when we were kids, and for all the havoc I've caused for everyone today. If not for mine, do it for my daughter's sake."

At first, Charlie could only stare at her, unable to think of the right words to say. Mistaking his silence for a wordless rejection she proceeded to turn away. That was until the chocolatier gently took her hand in his, startling Violet who for a moment seemed to gaze into his eyes.

"Violet Beauregarde, from everything that has happened today I have come to realize that nobody is bad without a reason. Not only that, but I've also learned that it is possible for someone to change from within their fatal flaws, just as you and everyone else in the room has."

Both Charlie, Violet and even Samantha looked over to the guests who were nodding their agreement.

"Besides, it wouldn't be fair for us to be forgiven for our mistakes and not you" Judy stated.

"We've all got our faults, it's just part of being human" Fiona commented.

"Yeah, indeed we have" the Beauregarde's both said, now moving over to stand with the rest of the group.

Clearing his throat Charlie decided to add to the conversation by saying, "so yes Violet, I along with everyone else here forgives you."

For the first time in a while, Violet let out a genuine wide smile that soon spread across her lips, as she embraced the pure joy of the moment. Then as an extra thank you, she ran up to Charlie, wrapping her arms around him in an appreciative hug, that Charlie was more than happy to accept. His soft laugh filling the room when hugging her back proved it.

Meanwhile, Samantha also had to make amends. Before she could even think of what to say, that certain person made the first move by patting her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about what happened with the cats or the tray. I know you didn't mean it."

"Thank you, I shall still apologize regardless," Samantha replied. "So friends again?"

"Yeah, why not!" Eleanor happily agreed, linking arms with Samantha.

The group then spent next few minutes talking amongst themselves as well as the chocolatier himself, this was until an Oompa Loompa approached him.

"Charlie, it has come to my attention that you must discuss one last thing with your guests," the Oompa Loompa said, his facial features signaling that it was about something serious.

"Ah, yes," Charlie responded, a hint of unease in his voice.

"What I intend to consult with you all is… Is…" Charlie then stopped talking, his ability to speak betraying him once more.

"Shall I say it for you?" asked the Oompa Loompa who received a confirming nod.

"What Charlie needs to discuss with you is, who's going to be his heir?"


	22. Heir and no heir?

At first, the seemingly simple question was met with total utter silence, which seemed so intense you could hear a pin drop. It was only after a few minutes of silence when one of the guests spoke up.

"Mr. Bucket" Mandy began, calmly walking towards the chocolatier. "I'm going to decline the offer to be your heir, I feel the opportunity will be best in the hands of someone who will benefit from it more."

"I appreciate your honesty Mandy," Charlie responded, turning to the others to see if they had anything to say.

"I'm also going to withdraw from the competition" Steven stated before adding in more a grumbled tone, " I need work on dealing with my personal issues right now."

Charlie nodded in understanding. Fernando was the next one to follow.

"I cannot be your, heir, either, I don't deserve to be," Fernando said, giving Charlie a guilty look as if he'd betrayed him.

"So that only leaves you two," Charlie then said in an audible whisper to Eleanor's and Samantha's direction, who glanced at each other in surprise.

"But I can't. I caused chaos for everyone!" Samantha exclaimed with an awkward stammer, having found herself unable to give the chocolatier eye contact.

"And I stole your chewing gum," Eleanor added, also avoiding any eye contact with Charlie.

"But you did it to help," Charlie responded with a sweet smile, Eleanor gulped at the impact of Charlie's words.

Eleanor then silently turned to look at the others, her eyes focused on Samantha as a look of shock filled her facial features. "So were you. I mean, if you hadn't have done what you did then no one would have learned anything today."

The others all silently nodded their heads in agreement, Samantha remained baffled at their responses.

But before anyone else could say a word, an Oompa Loompa tugged at Charlie's trouser leg, whispering something into his ear. Charlie then turned towards the Oompa Loompa with a simple nod just before turning back to address the guests.

"Since there are only the two girls still up for the prize my trusty Oompa Loompa here shall take you to one last room of your choice," Charlie said to the three families who had earlier declined the opportunity to win.

Watching as the Oompa Loompa lead the Perkins, Cruz and the Fox family's out the room, Charlie let out a small sigh when the door closed behind them. This left him with an exceedingly difficult choice to make.

"So, it's now down to you two," Charlie began, only to be cut off straight afterward.

"Why don't we cut the suspense and just get round to saying Eleanors the winner. She'll make a much better heir than me," was the admission from Samantha.

Eleanor shook her head. "Why don't we decide in a fairer way."

"How?"

But before Eleanor was able to answer her question, a sudden beat of a drum put an end to their discussion. When the lights went off a few seconds afterward, both the girls stood in a mixture of suspicion and wonder at what was about to happen.

As the beats of the multiplying drums became louder the two girls suddenly became victims to a surprise when a pair of Oompa Loompas jumped out from behind them, causing them both to jump at their unexpected appearance. Just when they had gotten over their uninvited surprise, they were in for another as they began to feel themselves being picked up by the same pair of Oompa Loompas who had given them a shock.

Then as if by magic they were thrown into the air, the two girls screamed until a raspberry kite caught them in mid-air. Their screams soon turned into waves of laughter when they realized they were being flown around on them. Looking down both girls waved at their respective guardians, who resembled the appearance of fleas due to how high they were.

Once the girls had been strapped on by the bottom strings of the kites the Oompa Loompas began to sing a jazz style song, while the girls continued to be swung around. Their excitement echoing throughout the entire room, making the chocolatiers lips twitch until they formed a huge smile.

But unlike all the other songs, this one was to be portioned out between the two of them. A bright golden spotlight shining on Samantha first, then moving onto Eleanor. Their spotlight conveying what the lyrics had to say about them.

_Samantha Beauregarde, always staying on her guard,_

_with false innocence and knowing when to play hard._

_But little did she know her life would be shown_

_before the others, spilling secrets that were unknown._

_As Claudia Smith, she cared for her mother_

_because Violet Beauregarde was just like no other,_

_but filled with sadness these mortals are_

_with hidden rage flowing like a shooting star_

_However, she's not as bad as she may seem_

_As you can see, she knows more than carrying out a scheme_

_She can see right through you and find your fatal flaws_

_but alleviating pain is her only one true cause._

_Eleanor Mai, from gray clouds to a clear sky_

_her smile brings brightness, and no one knows why._

_When she shares her feelings, happiness will double_

_But her curiosity keeps bringing her into trouble_

_On the other hand, she never gives in,_

_Determined to bring the good side a win_

_And that is why she always does what's right_

_Persevering, never giving up a fight._

_The choice was between the two of them alone._

_But alas, the winner has been now been shown_

_Eleanor's the winner, for her loving, kind heart_

_And now, her destiny is ready to start._

Once the song had finished and the girls had been safely lowered back onto the ground, everyone except Eleanor wore a smile on their face. Her lack of one soon got noticed by the chocolatier, his own smile instantly transformed into a frown.

"Eleanor?" he questioned, "I see you look unhappy, why's that?"

The suddenly quiet girl remained silent for what seemed like a decade, she then diverted her eyes onto the floor as she spoke in a barely audible whisper.

"I don't wish to be your heir."

Gasps of shock escaped from the others mouths, including the chocolatiers himself.

"But- but why?" Charlie asked again, his tone of voice having stayed the same as before.

"I know what the prize will require and I'm not prepared to leave my community behind."

Charlie gulped, clearly astounded at what he was hearing.

"When I said about my community being one big family I meant every word. I can't just leave them, especially not after all the good deeds they have done for us. I'm sorry Mr. Bucket."

And that was when it hit him. Throughout Eleanor's explanation, it suddenly made him think of his own family, who before winning the factory were lucky if they were able to eat. Like Eleanor, he had also declined the offer to be Mr. Wonkas heir when learning he would have had to leave his family behind in order to work with him. And now it was as if he was in the exact same situation all over again, but this time on the receiving end. As hard it was to say it, he truly understood why she said what she said. And despite the hint of sadness lingering in the pit of his stomach, he was going to accept her wish.

"I get where you're coming from Eleanor, I felt the same way about my family. So I cannot bare the thought of me getting my wish and you not."

"Thank you," Eleanor responded in a gentle tone as she took Charlie's hand as a token of her appreciation.

"However, this means my question of who will be my heir remains unanswered," Charlie said with a heavy stutter to his voice.

It was at that moment when Eleanor's previous stern expression transformed into a soft smile, which was soon shared with Samantha as the same idea popped into both their heads.

"We have an idea!" They declared just before getting the chocolatier to kneel down so they could whisper it to him.

Meanwhile, those who had been told to go with the Oompa Loompa to choose a room they would like to spend the remainder of their time in the factory in were walking past endless amounts of rooms since they left. But on the bright side, this did give them an opportunity to speak to one another for what could be the final time.

"So." Judy began, turning to face Bryant who happened to be walking right next to her. "What do you plan to do when this is all over?"

Letting out a heavy sigh, Bryant brought up a hand to rub at his forehead before turning to look at the concerned older women. "Well, I plan to do something I should have done years ago."

All Judy had to do was give Bryant a questioning look in order for him to expand on what he was saying.

"To leave Christina and start afresh with Fernando. It's the least I can do for putting him through so much misery for god knows how long." Judy was unable to contain the slight scrunch in her face as she watched him turn to look at his son, who was happily chatting to Mandy and Steven.

"Well, good luck," was all Judy found herself able to say just before softly patting Bryant's shoulder to show she meant it.

However, it was only a few moments later when Judy suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. After a few seconds of the others wondering what she was doing, Judy let out a sentimental sigh, one that Mandy seemed to know well.

"Mother?" she questioned in a soft tone, before realizing what she had seen that triggered her reaction.

The room Judy had been so keen on looking into was a large room containing the trail of the chocolate river they had seen back in the chocolate room, which seemed to end at the room she had set her eyes upon. But as Mandy took a closer look she could then see a smaller version of the pink boat the others had ridden on floating on top of the river, the only thing occupying it was an Oompa Loompa checking to see if everything was still intact.

"I remember going on boat trips with my mother," Judy said, gazing at the boat as if lost in her labyrinth of wonderful memories it brought back.

"Hey, could we could go for a ride on the boat" Mandy blurted out, causing her mother to do a double take in absolute surprise.

The Oompa Loompa who had been stood in front of them gave her a silent nod. Mandy then looked up at her mother who was still trying to process what was happening.

"I er… If you're sure Mandy, I- "

Judy was soon cut off from ending her sentence as her daughter replied in a confident yet kind tone, "yes mum."

Trying hard to fight back tears the Perkins were soon lead over towards the boat, Mandy jumping up and down when seeing her mother let out a wide smile of heartwarming joy.

As soon as the Perkins were settled, it didn't take long for Steven to figure out his choice of room.

"Hey!" He yelled out as something nudged his arm that caused him to crash into his brother's side.

Annoyed at the sudden interference Steven abruptly turned around to give whatever had been responsible for the unwanted occurrence, to find the Jelly Jaguar they had seen back at the jungle room standing in front of him. Purring slightly as if to gain a response out of him, which it did, even if at first it wasn't a particularly friendly one.

"What was that for?!" Steven snapped, glaring at the Jaguar which didn't seem fazed or even remotely scared. All it did in response was nudge him again, but nose to nose.

Slightly flabbergasted at what had just happened Steven was about to shout at the Jaguar once more until his brother firmly placed a hand on his shoulder.

"He's not trying to hurt you, bro, he wants to hang out with you." As soon as the older Fox brother finished his sentence, the bully blob from earlier also made an appearance from its left-hand side.

Stevens rage quickly turned into deep remorse, ashamed at how he acted. "I guess I should say sorry, I'm just not used to anyone or anything being so nice."

The Jaguar purred again but louder while the blob wibbled, causing the blue haired boy to let a small smile escape his lips. A few seconds later the Jaguar lowered itself until it was more or less at Stevens height, letting out its own version of a contented sigh as it waited for Steven to acknowledge its request.

Although it had taken the blue haired boy a couple of minutes to think it through, he ended up accepting the Jaguar's request. Once the jelly Jaguar had lifted itself to its full height, the Fox brothers last words were "we're heading to the Jungle room," and with that, the Jaguar along with Steven holding onto its back and the blob on his head lept away. This left Joesph running to catch up with the speedy pair.

Watching as they raced to their chosen destination the Oompa Loompa let loose a soft chuckle, before turning around to see that only Fernando and Bryant were left.

"What room do you wish to spend your small amount of time you have left here in?" The Oompa Loompas asked, watching as they decided where they wanted to go.

"Could we go back to the inventing room? Bryant requested before adding, "I feel that Fernando missed out on a lot due to my stupidity." Fernando gave his father a sympathetic look in response to his flat out honest admission.

"Very well, is that what you want Fernando?"

"Yes," Fernando replied with a confident nod. A sense of serenity filing his heart with joy when seeing his father's beam of acceptance.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Charlie asked as he, along with the two girls walked across the same corridor the others had five or so minutes ago.

"It's the only way," Eleanor replied, giving the chocolatier a smile as an act of reassurance.

"Besides, I'm sure one of them needs this opportunity more than we do," Samantha added.

"Very well," was all Charlie had to say before taking a peek inside the chocolate room, where the Oompa Loompa had guided him towards.

Then from the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Judy and Mandy taking a relaxing ride on the candy boat, sitting right next to each other as they talked, laughed and shared smiles.

Taking a closer look at how differently Mandy was interacting with her mother than she was at the beginning of the tour, he almost couldn't believe it was the same girl who had once been possessed by greed, with absolutely no regard for how she affected others. Especially her mother who had until now, always received the worst of her fractious temper.

Spending just a couple more seconds watching the Perkins continue to enjoy quality time together by pointing at various candies they came across in the distance, Charlie gave the Oompa Loompa steering the boat a small thankful nod before quietly leaving the room.

"She has certainly changed for the better," Charlie whispered as he, Samantha and Eleanor made their way to the jungle room.

Making sure not to make too much of a sound when opening the door, Charlie and the two girls were astonished at what they saw. Steven who had once been snappy, inconsiderate and just an unpleasant person, in general, was currently displaying high levels of compassion for the Jelly jaguar.

This was shown while he and Joseph, who was riding on the banoffee bird were having a play fight between each other. They had just been preparing to chase each other when suddenly the Jelly Jaguar took a tumble, which ended up in Steven falling off its back and landing on his side.

Joseph winced throughout the whole fiasco, while the blob shuffled over to Steven to make sure he was alright.

"No!" Steven cried out as he watched the Jaguar split in half, which then disintegrated into pieces soon afterward. However, as the blue haired boy walked towards what was left of the Jaguar, he was greeted to a shock when the Jaguar reformed itself with no traces of injury in sight.

Wiping away the slight teardrop that had rolled its way onto his cheek, Steven and Joseph both laughed, along with a happy squeak from the blob as the younger Fox brother said, "clever trick pal, you had me worried there."

The Jaguar happily purred in response to Steven's words of concern, before resuming where they had left off with their little game.

Having to swallow down a lump that had formed inside the chocolatiers throat, all Charlie had to do was give the two girls a meaningful look to show words weren't needed at this moment in time. Though if he was to say anything, it would have been something along the lines of how proud he was to witness just how far Steven had come along since his introduction.

With his throat still, a little tight from the lump that was slowly disappearing, Charlie and the two girls left the jungle room in order to catch a glimpse of the final pair.

Being careful when walking through the entrance to the inventing room, it didn't take long to spot Fernando and Bryant trying out the singing sherbets. The purple colored sherbet powder Bryant had consumed soon made him blurt out a verse to the Macarena, while Fernando's orange colored one had him singing the chorus to What does the fox say. This had them both in laughing fits at how silly they both sounded.

Just as he'd done for the others, Charlie continued to observe Fernando and Bryant as they moved on to trying other candies. Out of all of them, the chocolatier felt that they had benefitted the most out of their hard grafted lesson, as before Bryant wouldn't ever have let his son even mention the word candy. But now all had changed, not just for Fernando's benefit, but also for their bond as a whole.

On the other hand, unlike the others, their newfound father-son bond was at risk of being undone. Something that pained the chocolatier to think about, just as it would for them.

Turning to look at the girls, he could sense they were thinking the exact same thing. Sighing to himself, Charlie lead the two girls out of the room and along the corridor to the infamous nut-sorting room where Fiona, Violet, and an Oompa Loompa were waiting for them.

"Did you come to a decision?"

Charlie didn't respond, looking as if he was trapped in his own thoughts.

It wasn't until almost ten minutes later when Charlie said, "I want everyone to be taken from their respective rooms and gathered round here, I have an announcement to make," in a low tone of voice. One that put a feeling of unease in both the girl's stomachs.

Once the Oompa Loompa received his instructions it didn't take long for the others to make an appearance, questioning what was going to happen as they arranged themselves in an orderly line.

Clearing his throat Charlie thought to himself, it's now or never, before taking a deep breath and letting out what he was to say.

"Now as you all know the time has come to reveal the heir to the factory," Charlie began, gesturing the two girls to come stand next to him before adding, " However, one small change has been made."

"What's that?" Judy asked. Her along with many of the others confused at what Charlie was getting at.

"Well as you may recall it was either Eleanor and Samantha who was to claim the prize after it was kindly declined by the rest of you. Unfortunately, neither of them felt right about accepting the prize. So I have come to the conclusion that I must choose one of you to be my heir respectively."

The entire room then fell into a long silence that was mostly due to high levels of shock. No one could speak or even utter a sound as they waited for the excruciatingly intense revelation.

Charlie took this opportunity as his cue to reveal the lucky winner for all of them to hear.

"I have now come to the decision on who shall be awarded the title of being my heir." Charlie had to force yet another pesky lump in his throat down in order to finish his sentence.

_"Therefore, I declare the winner of the entire factory to be..."_


	23. Congratulations...

_"Therefore, I declare the winner to be…"_

**"Fernando Cruz!"**

Then all of a sudden a bright, almost blinding spotlight shone upon Bryant and Fernando, who in a mixture of shock and confusion found themselves unable to say a single word. That was until Fernando practically squeaked out a nearly inaudible rambled sentence of, "but- but I can't be. I said no."

Charlie directed a small, sad smile towards Fernando as he said, "indeed you did, but you deserve to my heir."

For a moment all Fernando could do was divert his fearful eyes between his father and Charlie, looking desperate for any proof the chocolatier was willing to give.

"What, how, why?" Fernando exclaimed all at once, now vocalizing his necessary questions.

Before Charlie could speak, Samantha got there first. "Because you're the only one out of all of us who haven't caused any trouble today."

"Plus, you showed everyone respect, even if they didn't do the same for you," Eleanor added in a cheerful tone.

Soon afterward Mandy and Steven were also keen to join the discussion session with reasons of their very own.

"You apart from Eleanor were the only one generally interested in the candies made inside the factory," was Stevens contribution.

"Not to mention you haven't been rude to Mr. Bucket at all throughout the entire day," Mandy said with a smile.

"They're right my boy," Bryant said in agreement, Fernando then looked up at him with a hint of a smile to show his appreciation. However, it didn't seem to be enough proof to settle his concerns.

"But how can I be sure I'm even remotely worthy of being your heir? I mean what makes me so different or special from everyone else?" Fernando questioned, his facial features more serious than before.

This time it was Violet's turn to have the first response.

"Well, we all share the same ambition to start a new chapter of our lives as it were, by embracing the changes we need to make and permanently sticking to them."

"Which cannot truly happen until we recognize what we need to do to enforce these changes," Samantha added while giving her mum a smile of encouragement.

"Also, your father told me he wished to have a fresh start with you, away from your mother," Judy said as she turned towards Bryant. Her comment sending a mixture of hot and cold tingles down Fernando's spine as he looked up at his father for the second time, unable to squeak out a single word.

"Plus, being Charlie's heir to the factory is the perfect opportunity to begin that very new journey you both desire in life, one you could truly say you would do all over again if given the chance. Like Charlie would," Violet finished off, earning herself an unexpected look of appreciation from the chocolatier.

After a few seconds of silence, Charlie focused his attention on Fernando who hadn't spoken a word of since beginning the list of reasons why he should be given the prize of the heir.

"So now that you've witnessed some perfectly valid reasons why I and everyone else here feels you should be my rightful heir, I must now ask you, Fernando, do you wish to be my heir?"

Looking around the room to find all eyes were on him Fernando took a few deep shaky breaths in order to calm himself down enough to give him the answer required.

"My answer is yes, I accept the prize to be your heir!" Fernando announced with a bright smile on his face, now convinced he has what it takes to be a good heir to the factory after listening to the much-needed advice.

After each and every person heard what they were extremely keen to hear everyone was about to start celebrating Fernando's victory until an unknown voice made itself known.

"Congratulations dear boy, I just know you will make a great heir!" Were the words spoken by the mysteriously low pitched voice that Charlie couldn't seem to be able to identify who it was, or where it came from.

"Who's there?" Charlie questioned. "You should be aware that trespassing is forbidden under any circumstances, so I strongly suggest you show yourself now and we can say no more about it."

"I'm quite surprised you have no idea who I am," the voice replied from behind the door before the strange figure, whose identity was hidden by a long flowing black cloak revealed itself to be someone more than recognizable to a few people.

"Who is that?" Samantha asked before anyone else could speak of the unexpected visit.

"That's the one and only Willy Wonka," Violet answered, just as shocked as the chocolatier himself at his appearance.

"Well, I'm glad someone seems to recognize me."

For a moment all anyone could do was stare at the sharp and full of life chocolatier in a mixture of disbelief and surprise. Violet and Charlie, in particular, took a while longer to process what was happening.

Despite the years Charlie hadn't seen hide nor hair of him Willy Wonka really didn't look that much different to what he did over forty years ago, except that the roots of his bob hairstyle had hints of gray lingering on the top of his head. His face that displayed the child within still having that youthful look, with only a very few dim marks of what could have been either wrinkles or laugh lines. Looking into those vividly eccentric violet eyes which alone told their own story, Charlie could almost be certain that wherever he had disappeared to, he did for a reason.

However, Charlie still couldn't quite believe that almost nothing had changed about the quirky yet incredibly imaginative man he had and still did look up to. Although, it didn't stop whirlwinds of various thoughts and even emotions that freely circled around his mind, full of hundreds if not thousands of questions he was so very desperate to ask, somehow couldn't find the courage to open up and do so.

Besides, it wasn't the right time even if he did gain the courage to ask.

"Now that I see the lucky nine new faces and one that is shall I say is well known within my factory, I want nothing more than to shake you all warmly by the hand," Willy Wonka said in the childlike tone who Charlie and Violet were both familiar with. Soon after letting out the second part of his introduction, Willy made his way to shake only a few people's hands one by one just like he said he would.

Watching as Mr. Wonka advanced over to three of the five kids and their parents as he held out his hand in a friendly manner, neither Charlie nor Violet could help but turn to briefly look at each other as if to say when you think today couldn't have gotten any more memorable.

Once Mr. Wonka had finished shaking the hands of Mandy, Steven, and Eleanor, he then turned around to greet the remaining people he wanted to take a moment to

"First I must congratulate you, dear boy!" Willy declared as he walked excitedly up to Fernando and his father. "I'm so glad you won, I really am. You know you share a lot of the same redeemable qualities as Charlie, his kindness, his attentiveness, his honesty and not to mention a kind heart."

"Thank you," Fernando replied just when Willy Wonka moved onto Bryant.

"You're his father, I know. So, sir, I must say that at the beginning I thought you were a hideous man, and not just personality wise." Bryant chuckled at Willy's statement, knowing all too well of how loathsome he was to deal with back in those grim times.

"However, now that I've seen beyond your nasty, appearance inflictive ways, I honestly believe you're going to make positive contributions in the future." Willy finished off with exhilaration present in his tone of voice.

Soon after his short talk with Bryant, Willy Wonka spent a few seconds just staring at the wall before landing his gaze at the Beauregarde's, who were just as unsure of what to expect than the others beforehand.

Not that she had to wait long for an answer to her inquiry.

"Why hello Miss Violet Beauregarde, long time no see." Willy greeted her with a smile she didn't recall seeing before. She could almost say it was a genuine one rather than the series of forced ones she received as a child.

"Mr. Wonka," Violet politely replied in response to his greeting.

"And you. You must be her daughter Samantha Beauregarde. Though I must say I never imagined the little 'champion' I once had hugging me would one day become a mother." Willy blurted out with air quotation marks when saying the word champion just before adding in a whisper to Violet's ear, "but for the record, you're a better one."

Both Violet and Samantha gave him a look of gratitude as a substitute for their lack of words.

"So now that the introductions are out of the way, I have a surprise for you dear children. All of you!"

"What's that?" Samantha asked, being the one to vocalize what everyone was thinking.

"Well," Mr. Wonka began with one of his mischievous grins, " I thought since the ticket winners of the previous tour didn't get to be escorted home by trucks with their lifetime supply of chocolate, this time my promise to you shall be fulfilled but with a tiny twist inside."

Before anyone could question on what this tiny twist would consist of the room suddenly became brighter, then out of nowhere a spotlight shined into view which at first blinded some of the guests due to its intense volume of light.

"Brace yourselves people!" Willy Wonka said just as a couple of Oompa Loompas set up the platform of where the bad nuts would usually be tossed so it looked like some sort of stage. Once everything was where it needed to be the same pair of Oompa Loompa went to stand either side of the squirrels as if to keep them calm.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby give you your well and truly earned surprises!" Was all Mr. Wonka had to say to fully

"Bernard Perkins, step forward." A voice that sounded identical to Willy Wonka's but in a lower pitch announced through two speakers which the group only just realized were on either side of them.

"Daddy!" Mandy cheered to her flabbergasted father as he stepped out towards them with his mouth practically wide open at his daughter's affectionate greeting.

"Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?" Bernard asked with shaky breathes in between, as if he was talking to an actual alien.

"Dad!" Mandy giggled, "I am your daughter, but an upgraded and better version of her." Judy smiled at her husband as an extra gesture to assure him that what she said was indeed the truth.

Satisfied, Bernard walked up to where the two girls stood, gracefully accepting the enthusiastic opened armed hug Mandy offered once he went and stood next to Judy, chuckling softly at the remarkable changes he witnessed.

"Next please!" Willy Wonka shouted.

"Tanya and Darren Fox, step forward."

"Mom, dad?" Steven questioned in a raspy voice, shocked that for once in what seemed his entire existence neither parent held any sort of gaming gadget in their hands.

"Steven, we are so sorry son. Me and your father were so tangled up in our foolish game play that we didn't realize what was going on in the real world. So we're going to do what we should have done a long time ago," Tanya nervously admitted, being the first out of the two to speak up.

"To prove it we're going to throw these damn pests in the trash," Darren said, his serious tone of voice surprising the blue haired boy.

Immediately after speaking, as if on cue two squirrels scuttled towards the Fox couple, one at each parent's side. After hearing a small squeak from the squirrel beside Darren, both parents fished out their formerly loved game controllers from their pockets and handed them to the squirrels.

Then in a matter of seconds, both the squirrels chucked the objects down on the platform where they slid straight into the entrance to the incinerator, never to be seen again. All four members of the Fox family let out huge sighs of relief, as the clanking sound of the game controllers hitting the bottom of its destination created a peaceful tune ringing in their ears.

"And that's the way it's staying," confirmed both the Fox parents, earning themselves a speechless wide smile from Steven.

"Turns out some people are able to escape from those terrible televisions after all," Willy Wonka commented just as he sent in the next person.

"Arnold Mai, step forward."

"Eleanor," Arnold said in a calm but cheerful way, doing his best to walk in a stable manner despite using his walking stick.

"Uncle, I didn't expect to see you!" Eleanor exclaimed as she lead her uncle to where Fiona was. The three of them then took a moment to look at Mr. Wonka to thank him for his kindness. Willy only nodded in response as if he had something entirely different on his mind.

"Now it's time for the tricky part," Willy whispered to the Oompa Loompa stood next to him who acknowledged his words with a simple nod.

Although their whispered conversation was only meant for the two of them, Fernando heard everything that was said. It didn't take them long to realize what they truly meant.

"Christina Cruz, step forward." At that very moment, everyone turned to look at Fernando and Bryant, many of them including Eleanor sending the two of them glances of empathy as if they were already familiar with Christina.

"What do you think you're doing, get your putrid hands off me you pint sized pugs!" Came a hollered exclamation from the final parent to enter the room, which seemed darker than before.

After hearing her unnecessary shouting, the room abruptly became colder as Christina slowly walked up to where her long suffering husband and son skittishly stood. Her rage infested dark chocolate brown eyes not once leaving theirs, creating a rather disturbingly uncomfortable vibe within the room and the people who were unlucky enough to share it. Her facial expression was one that radiated the intense lack of sympathy and general emotional care her facial features saw no problem displaying, not even slightly relenting at the tiniest scale for the other members of the Cruz family.

Even Willy Wonka who had never been a fan of the company of other people could sense the monstrous wrath of hostility that lingered around her. In fact, it was safe to say she reminded Willy a lot of his father and how his hatred against candy affected their relationship while growing up. Mr. Wonka and his father may have briefly reconciled, but it didn't mean the many ways he had tortured him throughout his childhood seem any less daunting to this very day than what they were years ago.

That was something he and Fernando shared just between them, which in a way brought a sense of comfort to the elderly chocolatier.

Willy was soon snapped out of his thoughts when the sound of Christina's high heels sharply clacking against the floor made him wince as if the noise they produced an insight to the power fixated person she was. Once her high heels came to a silent stop Christina swiftly tossed her hair away from her front, causing it to slap the back of her tightly fitted red corset dress.

"Ugh!" Christina yelled, those already fury filled eyes widening in horror at the sight of her custard covered husband and son while pointing a disgusted finger at their messy appearance. "Don't you realize that Fernando is supposed to be modeling at the Paris fashion ceremony in less than twelve hours time!"

"The shows off," Bryant replied, his voice and facial expression firm. Realizing now was the time which decided whether or not their wish of starting afresh would be granted.

"Off?!" Christina loudly repeated with an increasingly sharp glare she gave her husband deepening until they resembled black holes in space.

Despite the slight twitch of fear that raced through every inch of his body, Bryant's solid look of solemnity remained unfazed. "As in sod. He's not attending it."

"Bryant, Ricardo Cruz," Christina scoffed as she walked a couple of steps closer towards him until she was only mere inches away from being face to face, with her arms tightly folded and a seething scowl.

"I did not spend nine months of my life going through a fat piling pregnancy and a further eleven years building him up from a puny screaming runt, for a career in modeling just so you could spout out utter twaddle about jacking it in, just hours before the most important night of my life!"

Fernando could almost feel his mother's head snap towards him, "And you are not to put a single foot wrong do you hear? I will not have you destroy everything I have worked my socks off to provide for the family name, nor will you go against my orders and muck up this big day I've desired, and quite frankly deserved for many years from having to put up with you and your foolish father!"

A few of the guests muttered various things about Christina's appalling behavior, while others shook their heads in utter rage and odium.

"Fernando is not a possession!" Bryant argued back which caught everyone's attention, being careful not to shout for the sake of his son. "He is not a puppet you can force strings upon and pull for your own pleasure, he is a human being with thoughts and feelings that when hurt can bruise and leave scars, which you don't seem to have yet taken into account."

Christina then let out the most hideous, scornful laugh that echoed across the entire room. Once the laughing stopped she then resorted to once again folding her arms and glared at Bryant to show she wasn't going to tolerate his ridiculous behavior.

"You know I've always thought of you as a dim witted buffoon and nothing more, so all that pointless rambling means absolutely nothing to me," Christina said in a quieter voice, though it didn't make her any more pleasant to deal with.

Bryant shook his head hopelessly. "I can't believe you."

"Enough of this nonsense!" Christina yelled before focusing her unwanted attention to her son. She then said in a hasty tone of voice "you are coming with me right now, we have a lot of work to do if you're ever going to be a success for me boy," along with snapping her fingers impatiently as if Fernando was her slave.

But Bryant wasn't having any of it. "Hang on-"

However, he was suddenly interrupted from saying anything else when Fernando let out a small statement of "it's okay dad," along with touching his shoulder before doing the unthinkable. All the others could do was watch with bated breath as the Fernando steadily walked down to where his mother was standing, who didn't stop until he was only able to look into her unflinching eyes and nothing else.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," were the first words out of Fernando's mouth, neither his face or speech showing any signs of fear, shocking both Christina and the others watching him from behind.

"Are you defying me, Fernando Cruz?!"

"Yes."

"What have you been teaching him!" Christina demanded, shooting withering scowls between Bryant and the two chocolatiers. "I did not bring him up to disrespect me in any way shape or form!"

"No mother, you brought this disrespect on yourself."

Christina scoffed in disbelief. "Oh really, and how's that?" When she was met with silence a few people began to panic for Fernando's sake. "No, do go on boy. I would love to know how I've brought such insolence on myself."

"You just don't get it, do you? My father and I have for years been forced under your thumb, ridiculed for every silly little mistake that we unintentionally make because of the insane amount of pressure you put us under, in order for the modeling career to satisfy only your own needs."

Christina let escape a humorless chuckle, " and what would you have without it? That's right, NOTHING!"

"I've been chosen to be Charlie Bucket's heir to this entire factory mother," Fernando gently admitted, earning himself a look of disapproval from his mother. "And I'm not giving that up for a modeling career I have no wish to lead in life."

"You cannot just give up on everything I have done for this family!" Christina shouted, leading her son to do what he needed to do for his own peace of mind.

"I'm sorry mother but I'm taking this life changing opportunity with or without your support. My father managed to change his ways and despite everything you have put us through I was hoping you would too. On the other hand, if this is how you're going to remain then I'd rather it was just me and my father, permanently."

The whole of Christina's body shook with rage as well as letting out huge angry huffs. "Well good luck then," she spat just before turning to Bryant. "You shall regret this day, just you wait!"

Then all of a sudden everyone began to clap and cheer just as Christina began to make her exit. Then within an instant, everyone advanced over to Fernando to wrap him in one huge complimentary hug to display the pride that at that very moment words failed to provide.

However, the celebrating was soon cut short when screaming was heard from the distance. Turning to feast their eyes on what was going on, every member of the group were shocked to find Christina being the second person today forcefully tackled to the ground by the feisty group of squirrels that until now had sat so still you would have thought they were statues.

Christina who had now resorted to attempting to stomp on a few of the bushy tailed beasts (well as close to stomping as high heels would allow,) soon found herself completely defenseless against them. But unlike last time the gang of squirrels wasted no time in completing Christina's journey to the same grim fate as Veruca Salt. Grabbing her by the arms and legs Christina felt herself being helplessly dragged to the unknown destination she was to arrive at in a matter of seconds.

"Oh wow, they have gotten better. They didn't even need to test her!" Willy Wonka exclaimed with joy.

"Test her? What do you mean by that?" Bryant questioned, who only got the short answer of "all in good time" in response.

Deciding to try her luck to rescue herself from certain doom by digging into the platform with her claw like nails, her efforts soon proved wasted when realizing she was being tipped to her left-hand side before sliding down the inescapable passage way with a high pitched scream.

Once the drama was over Violet stepped up and asked, "excuse me, where does that hole down there actually lead to?"

"It goes to the garbage chute," Willy replied even though he knew more questions would come his way.

"But the chute must lead somewhere?" Fernando inquired.

"Well it goes to the incinerator, but the incinerator isn't lit on a Wednesday so she will have today's rubbish to rely on for a safe exit. That's unless she's been taken to the recycling unit."

"Can't you find out which direction she has been sent down?" Eleanor asked.

"Not necessarily, but let's put it this way, it was one of them," Willy replied with a laugh.

When seeing Fernando's worried facial expression Wonka sought to reassure him.

" But don't worry dear boy just for you, I shall send one of the Oompa Loompas to ensure that she comes out safe and sound."

"Thank you," Fernando replied with a thankful smile, one which Wonka had no trouble returning.

"Right then, I think we've done all we needed to do so…" Willy Wonka then unexpectedly found himself unable to produce the rest of his sentence, leaving Charlie to finish it off for him.

"What I think he's trying to say that this is the official end of the tour."

When the atmosphere was filled with a painful heart-wrenching silence Willy Wonka who had seemed to have recovered himself was quick to add, "but the good news is that each and every one of you will be allowed back to the factory any time you like!"

His much-needed statement was met with a few cheers and many more uplifting smiles. Both Wonka and Charlie then walked over to a particular part of the floor, there nonapparent reason confusing the others.

"People, we must all get in this very spot on the ground, so come on in," Wonka instructed as he gestured for the group to squeeze on the spot he and Charlie were stood on. Tapping his cane just mere inches away from Charlie's right foot, they are all suddenly teleported to the very corridor the guests had walked along during their first hour in the factory.

"What was that?" Steven asked once everyone proceeded to walk along the last corridor they would be setting foot on.

"Teleportation tile, one of the best ways to get around the factory, though no other method of transport can come even remotely close to my flying glass elevator."

"Right," Steven concluded.

During the time it took to walk along the corridor Bryant and Mr. Wonka were already talking about the new arrangements for him and Fernando, the remaining adults were engaged in their own conversations which left the kids to talk amongst themselves with only one subject in mind.

"I never thought I would be sad to leave this place," Steven begun, officially beginning the series of confessions.

"I can't believe I didn't demand for my mother to buy the entire factory, I guess I was never told how silly I was acting till now."

"You're not the only one Mandy," Samantha commented while pointing to herself. "I think we all needed a reality check one way or another," the others nodded in agreement.

Before any of them could say anything else Charlie beat them to it. "I just want to say that it's been a pleasure to have held this tour for all of you and to have witnessed just how far each and every one of you have come, however, as do all good things it is time to say our farewells as this is, as they say, is it."

The guests wordlessly nodded just as Willy Wonka guided them to the door where the trucks of their lifetime supply of chocolate were waiting for them.

The Perkins were the first ones to leave, and just as Mandy got herself ready to go, Eleanor ran up to her.

"Here Mandy, your coat!" But when she went to give back her tiger skin coat Mandy stopped her.

"You can keep it," Mandy reassured before shortly adding when turning to make her exit, "I have plenty more at home."

Next to leave was the Fox family. And just as Mandy did, Steven also had something to say.

"Thank you, for everything. I promise all of you that when we meet again I shall be a completely different person."

"We will look forward to witnessing it," Charlie replied.

Just before leaving Steven turned to address Fernando for the final time, "see you around Nando."

And with that, the Fox family were also escorted to the truck that was to take them home. Then the third and the noticeably final truck pulled over to the front of the factory just as the previous two had done, but this time with the name Mai written on the back.

As Fiona and Arnold gathered up both her own and Eleanor's things with the help of Violet, Eleanor first went over to Fernando to embrace him in a hug. "I'm happy you won," was all she said before planting a soft kiss on his cheek for good measure.

Once she broke the hug she then went over to Samantha, also to embrace her in a hug but for a different reason. "You might not have won the prize, but you're a winner in our eyes."

"As are you," Samantha softly replied, her brown eyes twinkling with a hint of moisture.

Just as Eleanor and Fiona were to head off home, Eleanor suddenly turned around to face Charlie one last time. "Goodbye, Mr. Bucket." This left Charlie having to force the pesky lump which had kept bothering him on and off for the last hour or so as he said his own farewell.

Just as they were to leave Violet patted Charlie on the shoulder, "forgive me but there doesn't seem to be a truck for me and Samantha to travel in?"

"That's because you and Samantha shall be traveling with us," Willy answered as he pointed to the glass elevator that had also been waiting outside the whole time.

Violet could only grin as she, Samantha, Bryant, Fernando and the two chocolatiers all got inside the elevator, then within moments of pressing a button, they were as high as the planes in the sky, or perhaps slightly higher.

"We better get going as we have a lot to discuss when we get back!" Willy said just as a muffled shout caught everyone's attention. It was soon discovered that Christina who had earlier been unfortunate enough to get on the wrong side of the squirrels had emerged from having been sent down the rubbish chute. Piles of stinking, revolting rubbish were piled from her head all the way down to her feet, she then looked up at flying glass elevator with a look of disgust when seeing Bryant and Fernando who refused to look at her.

"Don't worry my boy, it's just going to be you and me now," Bryant whispered to Fernando before pulling him into a hug which he happily accepted. Though they didn't notice Violet and Samantha sharing a beam of delight between them in response to their sentimental moment.

"Like what they said, it's just going to be you and me but in a better state of mind," Violet said, now having taken what little time they had left in the elevator for their own little sentimental moment.

Then before they knew it the elevator had landed right outside the Beauregarde's front door. While Samantha quietly waved goodbye to the two chocolatiers and the Cruz family, Violet couldn't bear to leave in silence.

"Thank you, Charlie, for everything you and your incredible chocolate factory have taught me today." Like Eleanor had done to Samantha, Violet then gave Charlie a farewell hug as well as a hug for Mr. Wonka, who this time didn't flinch at her touch before stepping out of the elevator.

But it was when Violet was about to unlock the front door that Samantha spotted something different about her. "Mom!" she joyfully cried, "look at your hair, your face, they aren't blue."

Rushing inside the house, Violet sprinted to the nearest mirror to see that indeed what Samantha had told her was true. Uncaring of the fact tears were running down her cheeks Violet looked up at the ceiling as if to secretly thank the two chocolatiers for the overwhelming miracle.

Meanwhile back at the elevator Charlie also had unfinished business to sort out with the older chocolatier.

"Willy Wonka, I need to ask why you left me for so many years?"

Willy Wonka then turned to look at Charlie straight in the eyes, his facial expression serious yet so kind. "Because I wanted you to realize that you had what it takes to be a great heir, which you've proved yourself to be!"

Charlie tilted his head in confusion. "So were you watching over me this entire time? Did you specifically plan all this out for this very day?"

Willy Wonka gave him a silent nod in response, which lead him to spill out a much-required confession.

"Charlie, I never left you alone, I was always watching you closely. Even when you sent out those five golden tickets in search for you own heir I was close by, in fact, I think it's even safe to say that I did have an input of who those tickets went to."

Wonka then diverted his eyes to Fernando and his father as well as towards where they had taken the Beauregarde's home. "I wanted you to teach those kids how important family really is, just as you taught me over forty years ago Charlie Bucket." Wonka had to take a moment to wipe his eye with one finger of his gloved hand.

"You did all that for me?" Was the last question Charlie could manage to speak out before he and Willy Wonka had a hug of their own.

Neither man spoke until the elevator landed outside the factory door. Both men took a glance at Charlie's new heir and his heir's father before Willy patted Charlie's shoulder, being careful not to let Fernando nor Bryant hear what he was about to say.

"Now I want you to pass everything I've taught you throughout the years of you being my rightful heir onto Fernando, who I know will be just as virtuous as you."

"Yes Mr. Wonka," Charlie obeyed in total agreement before turning around to see that had vanished.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts Charlie suddenly clapped his hands with enthusiasm. "Right Fernando, we have so much time and so little to do. Oh wait, strike that, reverse it! So without further ado, let's get down to business!"

As Fernando and his father were shown to the projection room Charlie couldn't help but smile to himself at how well everything had turned out in the end.

Now that he was certain he was good enough to run the factory, the future with his new heir in tow couldn't have been sweeter


	24. Victory in itself

After that very day of the tour, none of the ticket winners saw their future in the same light. But how have they got on since we ask ourselves?

Well …

Mandy Perkins managed to transform her ways of getting what she wanted for much more fulfilling purposes. Having made a vow that whatever career she chose to take up would be one that ensured the health and safety of others, which lead her to become a home carer to help the elderly who wished to live at home. Then in within the spare time she had, Mandy volunteered herself as a charity fundraiser in order to do more for society. Both jobs had made her realize that helping others in achieving what they deserved gave her such a boost of satisfaction, which demanding things had never provided for her.

Like Mandy, Steven was also able to use his past experiences as a benefit to help others who were dealing with similar situations. After spending many hours talking to a counselor about the issues he faced during his childhood he found that talking to someone did help him not only to overcome his difficulties and make the right choices but also inspired him to become a counselor himself. Sure it took a lot of dedication and hard work but in the end, he got the job he fought strongly for, and to most of the clients, he worked with thought he did a pretty good job too.

Eleanor Mai kept on with her passion for science, which after many long tiresome hours of deep relentless training she eventually went on to become one of Scotland's best-recommended science teachers. During most of the evenings when another day of teaching had come to an end she often thought of the others and what they were doing, in particular, Fernando and Samantha more than anyone. Amongst many of those days, she also thought about the possibility of ever meeting the other four ticket winners she was honored to share the tour with outside the gates of the chocolate factory for a reunion. Although it seemed almost impossible, her inner instincts told her that wish would come true. All she could do was wait for that very moment to arrive at her doorstep.

Samantha and Violet were indeed very different in some aspects. For it example when it came to how they dressed, Violet wore casual sporty outfits despite the occasional painful memories it sometimes brought, although she was usually able to shake them off, while Samantha preferred the gothic style. But if there was one thing they both had in common was they wished to do what in their heart was right for them, which in their case was a career in helping others to feel good about themselves. So what they did was set up an exercise program for women by the name of Rep n step, which to their surprise attracted a lot more members than they originally thought. However, not only was it the numbers that made it pleasurable, it was also the fact there were many triumphant grins of accomplishment at the end of each session that triggered the same feelings within themselves. And like Eleanor, Samantha herself did wonder if she would indeed be fortunate to see the people who helped her change for the better.

As for Fernando, well he was the heir who was quick to learn the required skills needed to run the factory the day Charlie no longer could. To begin with, things weren't easy, what with the changes in living accommodation which consisted of a house made from never melting ice cream, the sudden pressure to be the heir Charlie expected, as well as Christina's attempts to undermine the public into believing Fernando was a bad choice for the heir. Nevertheless, having decided to just grin and bear it Christina was eventually caught out for her ridiculous behavior out of jealousy and desire for revenge, who ever since hadn't bothered to make a comeback. The bond between Fernando and his father became stronger as each year passed as he often helped him through whatever was going on at the time, whether it was business or personal. Despite the support from Charlie and his father, he missed the others and it was only a matter of time until he took things into his own hands.

And as Eleanor had hoped, the invitation of a ten year anniversary get together had indeed arrived at her doorstep. She could barely believe her eyes when seeing how much of a positive impact the tour had on the others. The kindness within Mandy's eyes, Stevens calmer and much friendlier attitude and Samantha's generally easy going personality. But the most significant change had to go to Fernando who wore a heartwarming confident smile as he went to greet the others, with a just as strong handshake.

But despite their individual changes, the one thing they all had in common was that they had helped each other to get where they were now.

Which was a victory in itself.


End file.
